Christian Rebernik, CEO and co-founder of ToU using the Apple Vision Pro headset
Picture this: you make yourself a cup of coffee in your kitchen, head to your living room, and sit down on your couch. You put on your Apple Vision Pro headset, and in a matter of seconds, you’re transported to your mixed-reality global classroom, complete with 3D visualizations and interactive simulations.
From the classroom, you and other MBA students are transported to the beaches of Thailand. As arranged by your instructor, a local official greets your group when you arrive. She introduces herself and begins explaining the complexities of ocean plastics to you and your cohort as you look around and take in your new environment. You reach down to grab an unnaturally colorful tangle of fishing lines and waste debris, analyze them, and pass them along to others nearby with your virtual hands.
For anyone who hasn’t heard the buzz, the Apple Vision Pro is the company’s first device that uses technology to blend digital content with physical space. Users navigate using their eyes, hands, and voice — the kind of experience you can expect to have as an online Impact MBA x Vision student at Tomorrow University.
IMPACT MBA NOW AVAILABLE GLOBALLY
ToU, an “impact university based in Berlin, Germany, is the first university to offer an online MBA with the key tool being the Apple Vision Pro, and today (June 27) it announced that along with Apple’s expansion the school also will expand its program from U.S.-only to several major global locations.
Testing the technology, courtesy photo
The Apple Vision Pro arrives in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore on June 28 and Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK on July 12 — right in time for ToU’s next September intake.
“Bringing people together from all different regions of the globe is something we really care about,” says Christian Rebernik, CEO and co-founder of ToU. ”I think this is a more immersive and better way of studying. It keeps people connected.”
What is most exciting is that having students from all over the globe mirrors the diversity found in the many real-world business environments which MBAs will encounter. For the next global cohort, Rebernik is anticipating the applications to at least double.
VIRTUAL CAMPUS BREAKDOWN
Their online Impact MBA cohort is capped at 30 students, and the ToU even offers a virtual Metaverse campus where students work solo and as a group– much like one would do at a brick and mortar campus.
“They can walk around using their avatar, and when they face someone, a video call begins with a real voice conversation,” says Rebernik, “It really brings people closer together.”
With the Vision Pro, MBA students gain context clues that aren’t typically visible in a standard online setting.
“They will notice when others are looking at them. When they stand up, you will see height. With online study you can’t typically obtain that kind of information,” says Rebernik.
This format of interaction also eliminates the fatigue that comes with looking at a screen for long periods of time, he says.
Group sessions become working sessions where those in the classroom can transport to locations all over the world like the SpaceX factory, and engage with the mechanics, discussing how things work in that space.
This type of immersive experience allows students to deeply engage with content, says Rebernik, and build their community in ways they can’t often do with a traditional online format.
The virtual landscape of the online Impact MBA
This type of learning takes “looking at things from someone else’s perspective” to a whole new level. MBAs can record all their avatar is seeing and doing and share their recordings with others to share their perspective. Each student can also take notes in their own space and in shared group spaces.
HELPING MBAS FIND MEANING
“The butterfly on our logo represents the butterfly effect – everyone can come together to bring about a broader positive change,” says Rebernik “This is part of our mission.”
The university is highly focused on helping MBAs find meaning in their career. They offer seven specializations currently, and are adding seven more, like AI & Data Leadership for Sustainability, Innovation for Sustainable Growth, and Climate Solutions & CleanTech Innovation to name a few.
As technology changes, their content production will constantly evolve as well. “We want to extend this technology to more programs in the future, ” says Rebernik. Seeing as this technology is relatively new, ToU has a tech support at hand to help with any difficulties.
The current cohort has become quite close, says Rebernik, and “they help each other out quite a lot.” ToU offers MBAs a dedicated student success team to lean on as well.
ALWAYS A PART OF THE ToU TRIBE
The MBA is designed to take a year and a half, “but if you have a lot of professional experience you can finish the program in as soon as a year,” says Rebernik. “The structure also allows for pauses, because life is not linear, and we want to support this.”
Testing the technology, courtesy photo
If you picked an online Impact MBA out of the bunch, chances would have it they would be between 25-35 years old and currently working. “Many of our MBAs consider themselves successful ‘but want to take things to the next level’” shares Rebernik. Many of their students are looking to shift their career while working, which makes the part-time format a perfect fit.
The experience at ToU doesn’t end once their degree is finished. “You will still be a part of our tribe after graduation,” guarantees Rebernik. Alumni will still have access to the app and the community even after completing their degree.
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