Core Faculty | Frederick Poole

Dr. Poole also has an interdisciplinary educational background. He earned his doctorate in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences as well as a master’s degree in Second Language Teaching from Utah State University, and he double-majored in Spanish and Psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His dissertation and other recent research focus on the role of games in language learning, digital literacy, and collaborative reading, and he was honored as Student Researcher of the Year in his M.A. program and his PhD. program. Prior to grad school, he taught English as a Foreign Language for many years in China, Spain, and Chile, including a four-year stint as Director of Studies at a language school in China. In addition to teaching online courses in Games and Learning at Utah State, he has also taught several courses in Chinese as a foreign language and explored pedagogical innovations including writing a graded-reader series for L2 Chinese, using WeChat for language exchanges, using board games to enhance Chinese language learning, and even creating a 2D role-playing game for Chinese learners. He has published in peer-reviewed journals including Foreign Language Annals, Language Learning & Technology, and the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association as well as publishing and presenting in venues for educational technology. Many of these resources are shared on his personal site at fredpoole.github.io.