All Genius Academy content is developed in direct collaboration with subject matter experts and professional consultants from start to finish alongside our in-house full-service media and instructional design team that has spent the past 15 years partnering with top-tier institutions in designing educational, experiential media to transform pedagogy for higher education.

K. Rocco Shields, a celebrated filmmaker, has made a significant impact in both the film industry and education technology. Renowned for her groundbreaking film "Love Is All You Need?", Shields explored challenging themes of bullying and intolerance, inverting societal norms to spark global dialogues on discrimination and LGBTQ+ rights. This film, which she wrote, directed, and produced, became a viral sensation, leading to a successful feature adaptation that garnered over 30 festival awards and a Certificate of Merit from Congress. Her collaboration with over 20 nonprofits further highlights the profound social impact of her work. This transition from a successful filmmaker to an educational technology innovator was driven by a deep commitment to leveraging media for societal change and developing pioneering educational experiences.

The catalyst for Shields' shift to education technology was the personal tragedy of losing her father to addiction and mental health issues. This profound loss inspired her to found Genius Academy, where she developed the Immersive Practicum Lab. This innovative educational platform merges AI, cinematic storytelling, and immersive technologies to address the mental health crisis, reflecting Shields' dedication to transforming personal grief into societal benefit. The Immersive Practicum Lab is more than a technological achievement; it embodies Shields’ commitment to preventing the pain and loss associated with mental health struggles in others. Her journey from a filmmaker focused on societal issues to an EdTech innovator championing mental health education is a moving tribute to her father's legacy, illustrating how personal tragedy can be transformed into a force for creating a more compassionate and understanding world.

The learning objectives and academic content in each Genius Academy case study is designed under supervision of our Vice President of Curriculum, Dr. Gary J. Wood.
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Dr. Wood is an accomplished educator and the former Vice President of Curriculum and Academic Relations at 2U, Inc., where he oversaw the curriculum conversion, development, and ongoing operations of the management system for the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work’s web-based Virtual Academic Center.

Dr. Wood also served previously as a Clinical Professor of Social Work at USC, where he was on faculty for 25 years.  In 2007, his course in psychiatric diagnosing was awarded a Best Practices Gold Award for Online Distance Learning Programming by the US Distance Learning Association.