Briarcliff Manor School District (NY) is challenging the boundaries of advanced technology, including Wave Three's Session™ communication software, to enhance teaching, learning and research in collaborative education environments. Briarcliff, in conjunction with the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium on Long Island Sound, established an immersive distance education program using Session software. Briarcliff connected their teachers and students with remote marine biologists and other maritime experts affiliated with the Aquarium by deploying Session at each location. Session integrates Voice over IP, Video over IP, application sharing and media sharing into a single software tool for standard desktop and laptop computers. Students involved in the program, titled "Seals on Camera", gained diverse and exciting perspectives on marine life and ecosystem interdependence, and teachers gained a tool to ignite student interest and improve subject retention.

Supported by cameras set up inside and around the Maritime Aquarium, Session’s Voice and Video over IP capabilities allowed students to participate in the study of marine animals found in the Sound via “hands-on” sessions guided by remote Aquarium scientists. High quality, live video images were transmitted over the Internet from the Aquarium to standard computers in Briarcliff's biology laboratory, where they were then projected onto a screen for student viewing and collaboration. Mary Yulo, the Briarcliff teacher facilitating the pilot, states, “It was highly interactive. It was run like a class at the Maritime Aquarium.” This effort allowed students to explore the world of harbor seals, monitor their activities before migration North, and facilitated contact with experts in various fields from marine biologists and seal trainers to local fisherman and boat-builders.

Briarcliff Manor expects to extend the success of "Seals on Camera" to other programs in the district, including its mentoring platform for authentic science research. This will allow experts in various scientific disciplines anywhere in the world to serve as mentors to interested students. The district also plans to facilitate Session use by other regional school districts through establishment of a shared services center.