Dr Joanna Kolak

A lecturer in developmental psychology at the University of Salford, Dr Joanna Kolak specialises in the educational potential of digital media for children: how to measure it and how to improve it. Her research also encompasses how digital media can be utilised to support language learning in the young. As part of her PhD studies, Joanna investigated the role of internal and external factors in developing balanced bilingualism in Polish–English bilingual children in the UK and Ireland.

Having had numerous articles published in academic journals, Dr Kolak also spent three years in Salford University’s Cognitive Development Lab on an ESRC-funded project researching the educational possibilities for touchscreen apps in children’s early vocabulary acquisition. Alongside her lecturing role, Dr Kolak has also founded her own consultancy – Multiling – which delivers workshops for the parents of bilingual children and for professionals working with young people who are bilingual.