Rough Star, Bright Pit
Freek Vosters, teacher at heart
With his background in electronics and HTS automotive engineering, the job as Vehicle Technology Teacher at ROC Midden-Nederland was right up his alley. Freek is a tough teacher say his students; one who loves BBQs and motorcycling, but also someone who invests in a bond with his students. We spoke with him about his vision of the future of education and the role AR and VR (or XR) could play in it.
Imagination is the key to a good lesson.
Freek has been working in vocational training for quite a few years now and can therefore say that he knows the ropes. Dealing with adolescents, being a coach during an important developmental phase of young people, laughing together; it’s all part of the job. But one of the most important things Freek has learned over the years is that imagination is the key to a good lesson.
“The power of a teacher is in tapping into the imagination. How do you awaken all those little flames of inspiration? Often you succeed by making something visual. A video here, a picture there … but the best part, of course, is when you can actually experience it in practice!”
As a teacher, Freek says, only a little more than half of your job actually consists of teaching. That means you have to make the most of all the time you do spend in front of the class. So there is little time to dwell on information that cannot land with the students. It is extremely important to make the lesson material sink in as quickly as possible and often this works best if you make something tangible or visual. And so it appears from a study that StudioXR is currently conducting on behalf of Innovam.
Teaching today is the inspiration for the future
Teaching innovation is one of the most important issues for Freek, as it is for many teachers. In an age of digital media, books are becoming old-fashioned and outdated, and with the possibilities that XR brings today, we can do much more than teacher-guided practicals: students can do tasks and assignments themselves. And Freek thinks that’s a great development, too.
“We do need to innovate in education. Not only because we have very little time to learn a lot, but also because we have to keep in touch with young people’s perceptions. Students don’t like to learn from books. Learning by Doing often produces the best results and AR, VR are wonderful tools for that.”
The gap between theory and practice
The experience of young people, as well as the future of their professions, is becoming increasingly digital. Cars are becoming increasingly complex and turning into driving computers. This also makes it increasingly difficult for MBO students to get a grip on the theoretical aspects attached to them. Mechanics are becoming less and less important and Freek also notices this in the gap that is currently very evident between theory and practice. XR can offer a solution here, he thinks.
“Just think about debugging or securing an EV. In real life, you need a certificate with extensive safety training to do that. With VR glasses in a virtual 3D environment, you can practice that safely and without risk.”
A new tool for the teacher.
Freek understands that in addition to the many benefits of XR, you must always look critically at its adverse effects. For example, in a simulated environment you can very well practice unsafe situations safely and reuse work materials sustainably without breaking them. But important here is to maintain mutual contact and focus on the lesson material. He therefore believes that XR can come into its own very well as a new tool in the classroom, but not as a complete replacement for classical learning. And that is a nice conclusion that we also see reflected in the preliminary results of our research.
How we implement these benefits in an educational system that desperately needs innovation but has little financial room for development is the question we must collectively address in the short term. After all, today’s teaching is the inspiration for the future … inspiration that we are naturally eager to lend a hand.
Wondering how XR can take learning within your organization to new heights?