The Virtual Learning Environment, or VLE, was introduced in 2014 as an easier way for students to access and use complex, resource-intensive software. Grants provided by the state through the New Jersey Educational Facilities Act allowed for the implementation of this system. While already in use in industry and government, Stevens is paving the way for Citrix technology in education.
While VLE debuted last year, it has grown in importance with the new Bring Your Own Device policy. 2015 marks the first year that Stevens has required to students to bring their own computers rather than issuing them. VLE is used to ensure that no matter what devices students bring, they will be able to use the software needed for their classes.
Software offered through the cloud service includes Solidworks, DataStudio, 3ds Max, Mimics, Matlab, and more. Computers that would not be powerful enough to run these programs now can, because all processing is performed by Stevens’ servers. This software is still availible for download on Storage01 for students who would prefer to run it locally.
The service can be accessed on or off-campus through a piece of software called Citrix Reciever., available on Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, and Android. Each session loads a clean installation of Windows 7, with all software up to date. Because VLE is connected to campus domain accounts, users can save data on their private network storage Storage01 space. Users also have the option of saving to their own devices.
