Hi, I'm Freek.

Professionally I’m a teacher, and I consider myself a builder of things: mostly lesson designs, educational games and tools, and curricula. This past year AI pulled me into software as well; I’ve been building apps that solve problems for myself and the people around me. Two of those, Peakly and True Colours, I’m building together with my partner Ylfa. I wanted a place to show what I’m working on, and to share some of my thinking on using AI to create and do real work. This is that place.

What I do

I teach at Hogeschool Utrecht, and much of my work is didactics and educational design: I teach students how to design their lessons, and I’m redesigning the full writing curriculum in the English programme. Lately I’ve been designing software too, and the principles of building good learning materials map straight onto good interface design. Both come down to the same thing: a guided experience, in software or in the classroom, that helps someone learn.

Away from work

I make things for the fun of it: woodworking, Magic: The Gathering cubes, and whole worlds and campaigns for the tabletop RPGs I run. It’s been hard to find the time with two kids aged 1 and 2, but when I get a moment for myself you’ll find me hanging out with my partner, bouldering, going for bike rides, slacklining, playing board games and video games, or reading fantasy/sci-fi.