The Abrupt Transition to Online Learning: Multiple Perspectives

Transitioning to virtual learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic made the numerous obstacles faced by deaf and hard of hearing students more apparent, and created new challenges for all involved. From this experience, much knowledge was gained that can continue to be implemented and researched to provide better access and accommodations for ongoing online education. In the present article, we introduce an American Annals of the Deaf Special Issue whose contributing authors offer a response to the challenges experienced by deaf education researchers, administrators, policymakers, faculty, and other educators in areas ranging from early childhood to higher education, as well as students and families, because of the abrupt transition to virtual learning. This Special Issue provides perspectives, strategies, and scenarios that can enhance deaf education across age and grade ranges and augment the research and literature base of online learning in deaf education.