May 1, 2018

SUNY Empire's Immersive Cloud Learning Featured in "A View from the Edge"

New Publication Spotlights Emerging Trends & Technologies in Higher Education

Students and faculty connect in the Immersive Cloud Learning classroom at the SUNY Empire Rochester location.

SUNY Empire State College’s Immersive Could Learning (ICL) is featured in the inaugural issue of “A View from the Edge,” a magazine published by NJEdge that spotlights emerging trends and technologies in higher education.

Read the article: “Immersive Cloud Learning Transforms the Higher Education Landscape.”

ICL broadens access to expert professors for SUNY Empire students by offering in-person instruction at multiple locations simultaneously using high-definition video and audio technologies. ICL classroom spaces are designed specifically to promote collaboration, content sharing and dialogue between faculty and students. Each space accommodates up to 20 students.

“SUNY Empire was created nearly 50 years ago to be an innovator in higher education and the college continues to lead today,” said Officer in Charge Mitch Nesler. “Immersive Cloud Learning has provided a new platform for our students and faculty to engage with one another and it has created a synergy throughout the college for new ideas, practices and modalities that enhance our service to students.”

“Higher education is changing dramatically and I feel like our college is moving in a great direction,” SUNY Empire Director of Educational and Emerging Technologies Joshua Gaul told the magazine. “We can be at the front edge of that wave if we stay committed to it and continue to put in the hard work to make sure our students experience an education supported by sound technology design and support.”

“ICL course delivery is easy to market, excites students when they see it and is deliberately different from any type of instruction they've ever taken before.”

ICL is currently available for students to attend classes at SUNY Empire college locations in Staten Island and Rochester, and for faculty to host classes at Rochester, Manhattan and Saratoga Springs. A classroom is under construction at the Buffalo location and will be accessible to both students and faculty within the year.

About NJEdge
NJEdge is a nonprofit consortium created to support New Jersey’s institutions of higher education in their pursuit of excellence in teaching, learning and research, with a focus on active collaboration, adaptive technology, defined solutions and transformative engagement nationally.

About SUNY Empire State College

SUNY Empire State College educates nearly 18,000 students online, at 34 locations throughout New York State, and at eight international sites. The SUNY Empire experience is unique where, together with one of the college’s more than 1,300 faculty mentors, each student designs his or her own customized pathway to a college degree, which accommodates his or her schedule and awards credit for prior college-level learning. SUNY Empire awards more than 3,000 degrees annually and 94 percent of graduates stay in New York state. Today, more than 81,000 SUNY Empire alumni are entrepreneurs, veteran and active members of the military, professional athletes, teachers, medical professionals and leaders in their field as well as their communities. To learn more, visit www.esc.edu and follow the college on social media @SUNYEmpire.