Summary of How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media | Duolingo's Luis Von Ahn | TED

Main Ideas and Concepts

• Background and Motivation

  Luis von Ahn, from Guatemala, shares his perspective on education, noting that it often perpetuates inequality. Wealthier individuals can afford better education, while poorer individuals struggle to gain basic literacy. His personal experience with education led him to want to create equal access to education for everyone.

• Focus on language learning

  Ahn and his PhD student, Severin, decided to focus on teaching foreign languages through their platform, Duolingo, due to the large global audience and the significant economic benefits of learning languages, particularly English.

• Accessibility Through Technology

  Ahn emphasizes the importance of smartphones for reaching a wide audience, as building schools globally is costly. Most people have access to smartphones, making it a viable medium for education.

• freemium model

  Duolingo operates on a freemium model, allowing free access to education while generating revenue through subscriptions from wealthier users who wish to avoid ads. This model facilitates a small form of wealth redistribution.

• Engagement Techniques

  Ahn discusses how Duolingo uses addictive techniques similar to those employed by social media and mobile games to keep users engaged:

  • Streaks: A counter tracking consecutive days of usage encourages daily engagement.
  • Notifications: Timely reminders (e.g., 24 hours after last use) prompt users to return without being spammy.
  • Passive-Aggressive Notifications: Notifications that humorously indicate a user has stopped engaging can effectively prompt a return to the app.
• Cultural Impact

  Duolingo has become part of popular culture, generating memes and discussions about its engaging methods, which have led to a significant number of users compared to traditional educational institutions.

• Future Aspirations

  Ahn expresses hope that the methods used in Duolingo can be applied to other subjects, especially those that require repetition, like math and reading, to make high-quality education accessible to all.

Methodology and Instructions

• Creating Engaging Educational Content
  • Use psychological techniques from social media to enhance engagement:
  • Implement streaks to track user progress and encourage daily usage.
  • Utilize notifications strategically to remind users to engage without overwhelming them.
  • Consider using humor or passive-aggressive messaging to prompt users back to the app.
• Freemium Business Model

  Offer free access to educational content while providing an option for paid subscriptions to remove ads, ensuring accessibility for poorer users.

• Targeting Repetitive Learning

  Focus on subjects that can be learned through repetition, as these are more amenable to gamification and engagement strategies.

Speakers and Sources

• Luis von Ahn: Co-founder of Duolingo and speaker in the TED talk.
• Severin: Ahn's PhD student and collaborator in the development of Duolingo.
• Helen Walters: Moderator who engages with Ahn towards the end of the talk.

Notable Quotes

— 05:32 — « Delivering education over a smartphone is like hoping that people will eat their broccoli, but right next to it, you put the most delicious dessert ever made. »

— 05:56 — « What we've done is that we've used the same psychological techniques that apps like Instagram, TikTok or mobile games use to keep people engaged, but in this case, we use them to keep people engaged but with education. »

— 10:12 — « When you're learning something, you get meaning out of it. Whereas when you're scrolling for two hours on Instagram, a lot of times afterwards, you feel like you just wasted your time. »

— 11:24 — « My hope is that as humanity, we can do what Duolingo has done for learning languages but for all other subjects. »

— 11:52 — « The single most important thing that I can end this talk with, is a reminder to please, pretty please, I beg you, do your language lessons today. »

Category

Educational

Video