Kimberly Clifford, Assistant Professor Educator of American Sign Language
Clermont College, University of Cincinnati

On an unexpected new journey, one that I was reluctant to take, I learned that multiple modalities of language teaching can benefit students and be effective.

I have taught American Sign Language in a college classroom for twenty-three years. However, at the twenty-year mark, things took an unexpected turn, thus beginning my new journey. I remember sitting in a department meeting in January 2020 as my colleagues were discussing mandatory training for those teaching online. I tuned out, saying to the colleague next to me, “I won’t ever teach online, so I don’t have to worry about this.”

Well… never say never. What happened just two months later changed our world and much of the world of education. After spring break in 2020, I tried to salvage the last two months of our class through WebEx and Canvas. Then I taught summer completely synchronously online via WebEx. These were uncharted waters for me for sure, and my students and I all learned as we went. 

Joyfully, I discovered I could return to campus to teach in person in the fall. However, social distancing forced us to a hybrid model where I saw each half of a class once a week. Masks, illnesses, and quarantine rules continued to make life difficult. I wanted more for my students, so it wasn’t long until I was contacting the technology department to ask how I could record my class and share it with students who couldn’t attend. Soon after, we tried live streaming with Echo 360. Students could see me but I couldn’t see them, so I also set up WebEx on an iPad so I could monitor them and their questions in the chat.  Then, Zoom became more widely used and our school purchased the required license. The technology team helped me switch to a webcam on a tripod and my laptop so I could see the remote students on Zoom. Tada! We were holding class HyFlex! (I just didn’t know it was called that then.)

The following year, our college outfitted a few classrooms with technology that is specifically suited for HyFlex (Hybrid Flexible Course Design), allowing in-person and online students to join class simultaneously. Students could join from home when they were quarantined or just feeling a little under the weather. They were able to keep up with the class content, and I was able to teach in this way thanks to help from the technology team. 

In the last few semesters, I have become more comfortable in a classroom specifically designed for HyFlex in which I present in person and on Zoom. The room is outfitted with front-facing and rear-facing cameras. I can see my remote students on a large screen in the back of the room and can even move them to the front screen if I want the other students to see them too. Technology support helped me figure out how to allow the remote students to see me and the students in the room simultaneously when we were doing whole class work or taking turns. Teaching a visual language adds some complicating circumstances that are not present in a lecture class or an interactive spoken language class.

From the beginning of offering various options to my students, I had concerns: Will they take advantage of this and choose to join class remotely when they don’t have valid reasons? Am I enabling them to stay home in their PJs and avoid the real world? As good as this new teaching method seems, is this really in their best interest?

I learned more about this mixed modality type of class and that it had been used before 2020. I attended training with Dr. Brian Beatty, who coined the term HyFlex, and learned that in its truest form Hyflex allows the students to choose their modality each day and trusts them to make choices for themselves. I gradually learned how to teach more effectively in this modality by seeing what worked well and what needed adjustments.

Our college registration system changed to allow students to sign up to be remote all the time or to choose in-person but opt for remote on any given day. My concerns about best practices and what is in the best interests of students were ongoing. I also continued to deal with stubborn technology and struggles with developing new classroom management tools, including remembering to screen share and effectively manage breakout rooms. Activities that I had done for years in the traditional classroom for language practice had to be rethought to be equitable to both roomers and Zoomers. Challenges! 

I thought this would be temporary but I have continued HyFlex teaching for half of my course load because of low enrollment in on-campus classes and, although many students are relieved to be back on campus, most commuter students prefer at least some online classes in their schedule. I have asked students along this journey why HyFlex is an effective choice for them, and I have heard valid concerns. In some cases, if not for HyFlex, they may drop the class or even drop out of school altogether. Also, many students would not be able to maintain a full on-campus schedule with their other responsibilities and simply would not take ASL if in-person was the only option. I plan to share more about the advantages of HyFlex modalities through students’ personal stories in a future article. 

I cannot say that teaching HyFlex is my top preference, but I can say I’ve learned how to do it well and I am thankful for the flexibility in my teaching practices that I have developed along the way. Sometimes things do not go as we expect, but they help us learn and grow. It is all part of life’s journey…even an unexpected one.