Shifting online: 12 tips for online teaching derived from contemporary educational psychology research.

Background: As a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic, many teachers found themselves making a rapid and often challenging shift from in‐person classroom teaching to teaching in an online environment. As teachers continue to learn about working in this new environment, research in cognitive and learning sciences, specifically findings from cognitive load theory and related areas, can provide meaningful strategies for teaching in this 'new normal'. Objectives: This paper describes 12 tips derived from contemporary research in educational psychology, focusing particularly on empirically supported strategies that teachers may apply in their online classroom to ensure that learning is optimized. Implications for Practice: These strategies are generalizable across age groups and learning areas, and are categorized into one of two themes: approaches to optimize the design of online learning materials, and instructional strategies to support student learning. A discussion follows, outlining how teachers may apply these strategies in different contexts, with a brief overview of emerging efforts that aim to bridge cognitive load theory and self‐regulated learning research. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Online teaching and learning have become more prevalent due to the COVID‐19 pandemicScientific research provides guidelines for how to optimize (online) learningA key leading theory that can inform teachers is cognitive load theory (CLT)CLT‐inspired research presents guidelines for improving students' learning What this paper adds?: 12 empirically supported tips are presented to inform online teaching and learning practiceAll 12 tips are inspired by and can be explained by CLTEight tips focus on optimizing the design of online learning materialsFour tips cover instructional strategies that can support students' learning Implications for practitioners: Teachers can use these tips when they design their online learning experiencesAppropriate use of these tips should support the learning processUsing these tips should enhance students' retention and understanding of the materialTherefore, these tips should help students perform better on tests [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]