‘As a training advisor, I noticed that I knew a lot about psychiatry, but little about how people can best learn and develop themselves.’
In the 2024-2025 academic year, Ilona will be a research ambassador for the Social Work programme and will participate in a study by the Elderly Care lectorate at University College Roosevelt into the effects of education using virtual reality.
Online learning activities will play a greater role in the future of higher education. However, little is known about how lecturers themselves experience this type of education and Ilona has conducted research into this. She saw that the acceptance of technology and educational beliefs are important influencing factors for actual use. The respondents did see the possibilities of, for example, online lectures, particularly aimed at knowledge transfer, but the extent to which they experienced them as useful varied. The small group of respondents who felt insecure about their digital skills in particular avoided using online learning activities. In addition, there seems to be a visible connection between the degree of acceptance and the educational conviction. All respondents indicated a need for further professionalization in both the technological possibilities of and didactic skills in online learning activities.
Ilona completed a bachelor's degree in Psychosocial Work and Services and a master's degree in Social Work in Nijmegen and a second master's degree in Education and Training Sciences in Antwerp. She completed the latter in 2023 with a study into the perception of university lecturers of the user-friendliness and usability of online lectures in combination with face-to-face education in the Nursing, teacher training, Social Work and Pedagogy courses at HZ University of Applied Sciences.
Before Ilona started as a lecturer in Social Work at HZ University of Applied Sciences, she worked in psychiatry for over twenty years. She held various positions here, from activity supervisor to department head, and eventually became a practical trainer. She enjoyed her training so much that she made the switch to education.