Case Study:
ABOUT US
Rowan University
ROWAN UNIVERSITY: CREATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF IMMERSIVE LEARNING
Rowan University wasn’t looking for another technology solution. It was looking for a way to bring immersive learning into classrooms today while building the capacity to create new immersive experiences for teaching and workforce development.
Dreamscape Learn made both possible. Students immediately gained access to cinematic, story-driven learning experiences, while faculty, students and industry partners began building their own immersive experiences with the Dreamscape Developer Kit. The result is a growing ecosystem where immersive learning supports instruction today while expanding what’s possible across the university tomorrow.
Key FACTS
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Located in Glassboro, New Jersey.
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Public research university serving 23,000 students.
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Dreamscape Learn Center opened at Campbell Library in January 2025.
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Faculty already building immersive experiences across emergency management, anatomy & physiology, history and other disciplines.
The classroom of tomorrow is not going to look like the classroom of today. If we don’t adopt that technology today, we’re going to be behind tomorrow. This puts Rowan ahead of the game.
Michael M Crow, President,
Arizona State University
Tony Lowman, Chancellor, Rowan University
THE CHALLENGE: MOVING FROM VR PILOTS TO UNIVERSITY-WIDE SCALE
Long before partnering with Dreamscape Learn, Rowan had established itself as a leader in virtual reality and immersive technology. Faculty were already exploring how immersive experiences could support teaching, research, and applied learning across disciplines.
The challenge was turning those individual efforts into something that could scale across the university. Rowan wanted to bring immersive learning into classrooms immediately while giving faculty a practical way to create new experiences without building every project from scratch.
We already had a very active virtual reality program, but it wasn’t scalable. We were always asking ourselves, ‘How could we do better? How could we really create the classroom of the future?’
Michael M Crow, President,
Arizona State University
Tony Lowman, Chancellor, Rowan University
SOLUTION: A FOUNDATION FOR TEACHING TODAY AND CREATING TOMORROW
The Dreamscape Learn Center gave Rowan both.
Students now step into cinematic learning experiences that place them at the center of unfolding stories, helping them engage with challenging subjects through active participation.
At the same time, the Dreamscape Developer Kit gives Rowan faculty the tools to design and deploy immersive experiences aligned with their own academic programs, research initiatives and industry collaborations.
Working alongside George Lecakes, Director of Immersive Technology and Learning, and Rowan’s Immersive Technology team, faculty can move from an idea to a classroom-ready experience more quickly while building on a shared platform that can continue to grow across the university.
Faculty can see that they can work with our team to build something for their class that doesn’t take years and millions of dollars. It can be ready for students next semester.
Michael M Crow, President,
Arizona State University
Tony Lowman, Chancellor, Rowan University
OUTCOME: FROM ADOPTION TO CREATION
Within months of opening the Dreamscape Learn Center, Rowan faculty had already expanded beyond the initial biology curriculum, creating new immersive experiences including CASCADE emergency response training and an immersive history experience set during the Revolutionary War.
Led by Lecakes, Rowan’s immersive technology team is already helping faculty turn ideas into classroom-ready experiences. In 2026, Lecakes was recognized as one of New Jersey’s INNOVATE100 honorees for advancing immersive education and virtual reality-enabled learning through Rowan’s Dreamscape Learn initiative.
One of the first faculty-led projects built with the Dreamscape Developer Kit was CASCADE, an immersive emergency response experience that places students inside unfolding crisis scenarios requiring them to assess changing conditions, coordinate with other responders and make decisions under pressure.
One thing I didn’t anticipate was having faculty lined up across campus wanting to use this.
Michael M Crow, President,
Arizona State University
Tony Lowman, Chancellor, Rowan University
We can’t bring a flood, an earthquake or a train derailment into the classroom. Dreamscape gives students the opportunity to experience a crisis unfolding around them and learn how to respond.
Michael M Crow, President,
Arizona State University
Demond Miller, Professor of Disaster Science and Emergency Management, Rowan University
Faculty are also developing immersive humanities experiences that place students inside pivotal moments in American history. In the Revolutionary War experience, students investigate historical events through evidence, geography and perspective from within the environment, helping them understand history through the experiences of the people who lived it.
Together, these early projects demonstrate how Rowan is using the Dreamscape Developer Kit to create immersive learning across disciplines, from emergency management and healthcare to history and engineering.
For Rowan, immersive learning is no longer a single classroom or a single course. It is a university-wide capability.
Related Coverage
We believe the best educational designs integrate various pedagogical modalities. Students study; they apply knowledge and concepts; they learn by doing and they do in order to learn; they learn from text, from lecture, from visual and audio media, from hands-on experience and from each other. We design programs and products that tie all these modes of engagement together.
ADVANCED PEDAGOGY
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LEADERSHIP TEAM
Josh Reibel
CEO
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
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Aaron Grosky
President and COO
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
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Agatha Ladd
Chief Financial Officer
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
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Amit Kumar
General Counsel
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
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Fiona Quinn
Chief People Officer
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
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Chris Huff
SVP, Academic Partnerships, Dreamscape Learn
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
Read More
Michael Crow
President, Arizona State University
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...
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Walter Parkes
CEO & Co-Founder, Dreamscape Immersive
Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 - Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the...