In what could be a great example of meeting students where they are at, Rowan University announced this week that is jumping into immersive, virtual reality-enhanced education by way of its new Dreamscape Learn Center.
Located within Campbell Library, the new center transforms how Rowan students engage with coursework, placing them inside cinematic, interactive stories that make academic concepts feel relevant and deeply resonant.
The state-of-the-art facility features two dedicated VR classrooms, each accommodating 30 students and a faculty member. Outfitted with cutting-edge VR headsets, sensors and tactile feedback tools like joysticks, fans, and vibration systems, these immersive classrooms allow students to collaborate or work individually inside vivid, interactive worlds.
Rowan President Ali Houshmand, known for being ahead of the curve in higher education, obviously was delighted.
“We are a future-thinking university, and we’re fully invested in bringing this transformational educational tool to those who want to explore its capabilities,” he said. “We know interactive experiences in virtual reality can improve information retention and collaboration between students. Even more, VR extends the classroom into places and situations that we couldn’t reach before. The possibilities are incredibly exciting.”
Rowan’s first course using Dreamscape Learn technology launched this past spring, led by Pamela Watson, who redesigned the university’s introductory biology course for non-STEM majors using Dreamscape Learn’s Biology experience. Designed in collaboration with Arizona State University, Biology in the Alien Zoo sends students on scientific missions inside an intergalactic wildlife sanctuary, where they apply real-world biology concepts to solve problems affecting fictional alien species.
“We’re moving from more traditional instruction towards more storytelling,” Watson said. “Virtual reality has become one part of the toolkit that we’re using to engage the students in storytelling and those firsthand experiences.”
Students spend about 15 minutes per class inside the VR environment and another two hours in traditional classroom discussions and data analysis. The goal is to help students think and problem-solve like scientists, using storytelling and firsthand experiences to reinforce scientific literacy.
The course uses the same parameters as an actual biological experiment, but the result is different.
“Now you can see in a few seconds the effects of an experiment that would otherwise take days or months or years,” she said.
Rowan is already building new VR curriculum with the Dreamscape Software Developer Kit, expanding how students experience and explore course content.
DeMond Miller, professor of disaster science and emergency management, is developing CASCADE (Coordinated Agency Simulation for Catastrophic and Disaster Events), a VR scenario where students respond to a simulated environmental disaster — from landfill leaks to emergency storm response — coordinating across local, state, and federal agencies.
Additional projects are underway to design Rowan-made immersive experiences in other academic disciplines, from the humanities and civil engineering to veterinary medicine.
“This center allows us to build the future of education here and now,” George Lecakes, director of immersive technology and learning at Rowan University said, “and we want everyone to be a part of it.”
