Dr. Pınar Kolancalı is a researcher contributing to the Learning for Families through Technology (LiFT) project at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. As a member of the research team, Pınar is immersed in evaluating learning apps designed to improve parent-child interactions and child outcomes. Her role extends to conducting a meta-analytic study on design features and leading randomised controlled trials examining the effectiveness of app games in promoting creative and language development in early childhood. Prior to her current role, Pınar led a survey study involving 300 families in the UK for the Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities (ISOTIS) project within the Department of Education, Oxford.

Dr. Pınar Kolancalı holds doctoral and master’s degrees in Education, both from the University of Oxford. Her doctoral thesis focused on understanding the risk and resilience factors that influence bilingual language development and identity formation in ethnic minority children raised in first-generation immigrant households in the UK. Pınar also produced policy inputs for the European Commission, UNICEF, and the University of Oxford. Her most recent policy report documenting the educational effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey was published by UNICEF in January 2023.