Carl Boel
Researcher, Ghent University and Odisee University of Applied Sciences, Belgium
I am a PhD-researcher on learning in virtual reality at Ghent University. Recently, as the project lead, I launched VRkeer (translated in English: traffic) a virtual reality serious game teaching children how to ride a bicycle safely in traffic. The game is developed for Oculus Quest, aimed at children between 10 and 14 years old (however interest has been shown from older children, even adults). We won the Smart Belgium Awards with VRkeer and are now running in the International Educational Games Competition at ECGBL19.
At this moment I am investigating the benefits and constraints of virtual reality in educational settings at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences.
Both at Ghent University and Thomas More my focus is the instructional design of the virtual reality learning environment.
Before I started as a researcher, I was a teacher for 15 years. This field expertise is of great value in my work as a researcher, combining both research and practice.