On this page
Luis Von Ahn's TED talk shares his mission to provide equal access to education for everyone, primarily through teaching foreign languages via smartphones. He introduces Duolingo, a mobile application designed to teach foreign languages to everyone, using a freemium model funded largely by wealthier users. The speaker discusses the challenges of smartphone-based education, including distractions from social media and games. To tackle engagement issues, techniques such as 'streaks' and AI-optimized notifications are employed. The ultimate goal is to reduce inequality by affording everyone, regardless of their socio-economic status, the opportunity to enhance their income potential through language learning.
How does it apply to you?
This talk is applicable to anyone interested in understanding how education can be made accessible to all through innovative use of technology and engagement techniques. It provides insights into the strategies used by successful learning platforms like Duolingo and how these techniques can be applied in other learning contexts.
Applied Learning to Developer Enablement
The content touches on several key aspects that can be applied in software development and within a software development organization.
Software Development
- The speaker's experience in developing Duolingo can provide a roadmap for creating educational or engagement-focused applications. He highlights the importance of choosing a specific subject to focus on, the power of smartphones as a platform, and the potential of freemium models.
- The techniques used to engage users, such as streaks and notifications, can be leveraged in other applications to boost user engagement and retention. The AI system used to determine the optimal time to send a notification is a good example of how machine learning can be used to enhance user experience.
Learning in a Software Development Organization
- The speaker's mission of providing equal access to education can be mirrored in an organization's learning and development programs. It emphasizes the importance of making learning resources accessible to all employees.
- The concept of using streaks and notifications to encourage consistent learning can be applied in an organization's learning management system. This can help to build a culture of continuous learning and professional development.
- The speaker's personal journey of overcoming socio-economic barriers through education can serve as inspiration for employees, emphasizing that learning and growth are possible regardless of one's background.
Developer Checklist
User Understanding and Engagement
Learning and Education
Business Model
Summary
Introduction and Background
The speaker begins by introducing himself as a native of Guatemala, highlighting the geographical location and socio-economic conditions of the country. He humorously distinguishes Guatemala from Guantanamo, pointing out that Guatemala is located south of Mexico. He uses the metaphor of Guatemala being 'Mexico's Mexico' to illustrate the country's struggles with poverty and illegal immigration. He also humorously asserts that Guatemala has better Mexican food.
Education and Inequality
The speaker discusses the role of education in perpetuating inequality, especially in poor countries like Guatemala. He explains that those who can afford to pay for quality education continue to amass wealth, while those who can't afford it remain poor due to their limited access to good education. He shares his personal journey of receiving a rich person's education, despite not being rich, because his single mother spent all her resources on his education. This education allowed him to study in the U.S. and obtain a PhD in computer science.
Mission for Equal Access to Education
The speaker shares his mission to provide equal access to education for everyone. He began this endeavor around a decade ago while he was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. He decided to focus on teaching one subject to avoid the issue being too broad. After considering math and computer science, he and his co-founder decided to start with teaching foreign languages due to the large global audience and the significant income potential it can provide in many countries.
Choice of Teaching Foreign Languages
The speaker explains why they chose to teach foreign languages. He mentions the large global audience for language learning, particularly English, and its potential to transform lives by increasing income potential. He contrasts this with subjects like math, where the knowledge alone doesn't necessarily increase income potential without further specialization. He highlights that learning a new language, especially English, can directly lead to increased income.
Using Smartphones for Education
The speaker emphasizes the importance of smartphones in reaching a large number of people affordably. He states that building schools worldwide is too expensive, but most people already have access to a smartphone. He introduces Duolingo, a mobile application designed to teach foreign languages to everyone.
Freemium Model of Duolingo
The speaker explains Duolingo's freemium model, where users can learn for free but see ads, or pay to remove the ads. The majority of Duolingo's revenue comes from users who pay to remove ads, typically from wealthier countries like the U.S. and Canada, while users from poorer countries usually use the free version. He appreciates this model as a small form of wealth redistribution.
Funding Education Through Rich People
The concept revolves around the idea that wealthy individuals can contribute to the education of everyone, facilitated through the use of smartphones. This is deemed as a beneficial model as it provides an opportunity for mass education, with the financial burden being carried by the affluent population.
Challenges of Smartphone-Based Education
While smartphones are a powerful tool for delivering education, they also come with distractions such as addictive social media platforms and games. This poses a significant challenge when trying to engage people in learning, akin to expecting someone to eat broccoli when a delicious dessert is available.
Engagement Techniques
To tackle the issue of engagement, techniques such as those used by Instagram, TikTok and mobile games have been employed. These techniques leverage human psychology to keep people engaged with education. One such powerful technique is the concept of a 'streak', a counter that measures the number of consecutive days a user has used the product. This encourages daily usage as users do not want to lose their streak.
Power of Streaks
The power of streaks has been demonstrated by the fact that Duolingo has over three million daily active users with a streak longer than a year. A fun fact presented is that Japan has the longest average streaks for an educational app, while Latin America has the shortest.
Notifications as Engagement Tools
Another technique used to engage users are notifications. In the context of an educational product, users appreciate being reminded to learn. Duolingo employs a sophisticated AI system to determine the optimal time to send a notification, which is usually 24 hours after the last product usage. The notification system is sensitive to user activity, ceasing to send notifications after seven days of inactivity.
The Passive Aggressive Notification
A unique technique employed by Duolingo is the use of a passive aggressive notification, informing users that notifications will cease due to their inactivity. This notification surprisingly brings users back, as they do not want to disappoint Duolingo's green owl mascot, which has become a meme on the internet.
Engagement Through Memes and Pop Culture
Duolingo's green owl mascot has become a symbol of their brand, and has entered popular culture through memes and even SNL skits. This demonstrates how the use of the same engagement techniques as mobile games and social media platforms can make learning languages an engaging and fun experience.
Challenging Engagement of Educational Platforms
The speaker discusses the challenge of making educational platforms as engaging as social media platforms or mobile games. The difficulty lies in the fact that these platforms often feature entertaining content such as cats and celebrities, which is tough to compete with. However, the speaker argues that educational platforms do not necessarily need to compete with this level of engagement.
Value of Learning and Internal Motivation
The speaker suggests that when people learn something, they derive meaning from it, unlike mindless scrolling on social media which often leaves people feeling like they've wasted their time. Therefore, if an educational product is 80 or 90 percent as engaging as a platform like TikTok, the remaining engagement can be provided by people's internal motivation to learn something meaningful.
Impact of Engagement Techniques on Educational Products
The speaker emphasizes that using the same engagement techniques as social media apps can be effective in encouraging people to use educational products. Even if these products are not as engaging, they can still attract a large user base. As an example, the speaker mentions Duolingo, a language learning platform, which has more users in the United States than there are people learning languages in all U.S. high schools combined.
Vision for Future Education
The speaker envisions a future where screen time is not considered negative, but rather a tool to deliver high-quality education to everyone, regardless of their economic status. He hopes to see the success of Duolingo replicated for other subjects, enabling millions of people to learn subjects like math or physics using their mobile phones.
Applying Gamification to Other Subjects
In a follow-up discussion, the speaker elaborates on how the gamification techniques used in Duolingo could be applied to other subjects. He believes that subjects that require repetition for learning can be gamified effectively. However, he acknowledges that subjects that require explanations might still need resources like well-crafted videos.
FAQs
What is the speaker's origin and how does he describe it? The speaker originates from Guatemala, a country located south of Mexico. He uses the metaphor of Guatemala being 'Mexico's Mexico' to illustrate the country's struggles with poverty and illegal immigration. He humorously asserts that Guatemala has better Mexican food.
What role does education play in economic inequality according to the speaker? The speaker believes that education plays a significant role in perpetuating economic inequality, especially in poor countries like Guatemala. Those who can afford quality education continue to amass wealth, while those who can't afford it remain poor due to their limited access to good education.
What is the speaker's mission regarding education? The speaker's mission is to provide equal access to education for everyone. He began this endeavor around a decade ago while he was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.
Why did the speaker choose to teach foreign languages? The speaker and his co-founder chose to teach foreign languages due to the large global audience and the significant income potential it can provide in many countries. They believe that learning a new language, especially English, can directly lead to increased income.
What is the role of smartphones in the speaker's educational mission? The speaker emphasizes the importance of smartphones in reaching a large number of people affordably. He believes that building schools worldwide is too expensive, but most people already have access to a smartphone, which can be used for education.
How does Duolingo's freemium model work? Duolingo's freemium model allows users to learn for free but see ads, or pay to remove the ads. The majority of Duolingo's revenue comes from users who pay to remove ads, typically from wealthier countries.
What challenges does smartphone-based education face? Smartphone-based education faces challenges such as distractions from addictive social media platforms and games. This poses a significant challenge when trying to engage people in learning.
What techniques does Duolingo use to engage users? Duolingo uses techniques such as the concept of a 'streak', a counter that measures the number of consecutive days a user has used the product. They also use notifications, reminding users to learn and employing a sophisticated AI system to determine the optimal time to send a notification.
What is the power of streaks in user engagement? Streaks encourage daily usage as users do not want to lose their streak. Duolingo has over three million daily active users with a streak longer than a year, demonstrating the power of this technique.
How does Duolingo use notifications as engagement tools? Duolingo uses notifications to remind users to learn. They employ a sophisticated AI system to determine the optimal time to send a notification, which is usually 24 hours after the last product usage. The notification system is sensitive to user activity, ceasing to send notifications after seven days of inactivity.
How is Duolingo engaging its users? Duolingo uses a passive aggressive notification system to inform users that notifications will cease due to their inactivity. This strategy brings users back as they do not want to disappoint Duolingo's green owl mascot, which has become a meme on the internet.
How has Duolingo's green owl mascot become a symbol of their brand? The green owl mascot has entered popular culture through memes and even SNL skits. This shows how using the same engagement techniques as mobile games and social media platforms can make learning languages an engaging and fun experience.
What is the challenge of making educational platforms as engaging as social media platforms or mobile games? The challenge lies in the fact that these platforms often feature entertaining content such as cats and celebrities, which is tough to compete with. However, educational platforms do not necessarily need to compete with this level of engagement.
What is the speaker's view on value of learning and internal motivation? The speaker suggests that when people learn something, they derive meaning from it, unlike mindless scrolling on social media which often leaves people feeling like they've wasted their time. Therefore, if an educational product is 80 or 90 percent as engaging as a platform like TikTok, the remaining engagement can be provided by people's internal motivation to learn something meaningful.
What is the impact of engagement techniques on educational products? Using the same engagement techniques as social media apps can be effective in encouraging people to use educational products. Even if these products are not as engaging, they can still attract a large user base. For instance, Duolingo, a language learning platform, has more users in the United States than there are people learning languages in all U.S. high schools combined.
What is the speaker's vision for future education? The speaker envisions a future where screen time is not considered negative, but rather a tool to deliver high-quality education to everyone, regardless of their economic status. He hopes to see the success of Duolingo replicated for other subjects, enabling millions of people to learn subjects like math or physics using their mobile phones.
How could the gamification techniques used in Duolingo be applied to other subjects? The speaker believes that subjects that require repetition for learning can be gamified effectively. However, he acknowledges that subjects that require explanations might still need resources like well-crafted videos.
Glossary
Education and Inequality: The role of education in perpetuating inequality, especially in poor countries. Those who can afford to pay for quality education continue to amass wealth, while those who can't afford it remain poor due to their limited access to good education.
Engagement Techniques: Techniques such as those used by Instagram, TikTok and mobile games to keep people engaged with education. One such technique is the concept of a 'streak', a counter that measures the number of consecutive days a user has used the product.
Freemium Model: A business model where users can use basic features for free but must pay to access premium features. In the context of Duolingo, users can learn for free but see ads, or pay to remove the ads.
Funding Education Through Rich People: The idea that wealthy individuals can contribute to the education of everyone, facilitated through the use of smartphones. This model provides an opportunity for mass education, with the financial burden being carried by the affluent population.
Mission for Equal Access to Education: The endeavor to provide equal access to education for everyone. This can be achieved by focusing on teaching one subject to a large audience, especially in areas with significant income potential.
Notifications as Engagement Tools: The use of notifications to engage users. In the context of an educational product, users appreciate being reminded to learn. These notifications can be tailored to user activity to optimize engagement.
Power of Streaks: The concept that maintaining a 'streak' or continuous usage of a product can encourage daily usage, as users do not want to lose their streak. This has been demonstrated to be a powerful engagement technique in educational apps.
Smartphone-Based Education: The use of smartphones as a tool for delivering education. This method can reach a large number of people affordably, but also comes with challenges such as distractions from social media platforms and games.
Teaching Foreign Languages: The choice to focus on teaching foreign languages due to the large global audience and the potential to transform lives by increasing income potential. Learning a new language, especially English, can directly lead to increased income.
The Passive Aggressive Notification: A unique technique employed to engage users. This involves sending notifications that may appear passive aggressive in order to encourage users to return to using the product or service.
Challenging Engagement of Educational Platforms: The difficulty of making educational platforms as engaging as social media platforms or mobile games, as they often feature entertaining content which is tough to compete with.
Engagement Through Memes and Pop Culture: The use of popular culture and memes, such as Duolingo's green owl mascot, to make learning languages an engaging and fun experience.
Impact of Engagement Techniques on Educational Products: The effectiveness of using the same engagement techniques as social media apps in encouraging people to use educational products, even if these products are not as engaging.
Value of Learning and Internal Motivation: When people learn something, they derive meaning from it, unlike mindless scrolling on social media. Therefore, if an educational product is 80 or 90 percent as engaging as a platform like TikTok, the remaining engagement can be provided by people's internal motivation to learn something meaningful.
Vision for Future Education: A future where screen time is not considered negative, but rather a tool to deliver high-quality education to everyone, regardless of their economic status.
Applying Gamification to Other Subjects: The process of applying gamification techniques used in platforms like Duolingo to other subjects that require repetition for learning. However, subjects that require explanations might still need resources like well-crafted videos.
