SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2022: Niagara – Bridget Beilein

Bridget Beilein is an Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages and the Foreign Language Coordinator at Niagara County Community College. She has an accomplished twenty-year career as an Educator at the secondary and higher education levels with an outstanding record of accomplishment in ensuring student success. Bridget is an effective communicator with excellent planning and organizational skills as well as the ability to establish goals, to lead, to reach consensus, and to attain result. She has a special interest in immersion learning with an extensive background in leading language immersion and service trips abroad. Most recently she has focused her attention on the hyflex modality, which allows students the choice each class to participate face to face, virtually, or to complete the work asynchronously.

The pandemic has allowed me to view education with a new lens and has helped foster my online skills allowing me to see all the possible modalities we can use to reach our students. The hyflex modality offers the utmost flexibility for our students to succeed. The world of education is forever changing and so are the lives of our students, it is imperative that we evolve as educators to meet these ever-changing needs. Offering the hyflex course has been useful for recruiting and retention. Students who may not have been able to take my courses due to a schedule conflict or a job now have access to my course and have the option of watching pre-recorded lessons and live lessons. The live lessons broadcast synchronously are a great resource for students who cannot be there in person but still want the experience of a classroom.

I have worked hard at my dynamic teaching style that retains and attracts students to my classes, and I am excited to add hyflex to my résumé. I am looking forward to all the possibilities that it can bring to my students and the community.