How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media | Luis Von Ahn | TED

Summary

Luis von Ahn, the co-founder of Duolingo, shares his inspiring journey of creating an educational app that makes learning languages accessible and engaging for everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background. By employing psychological techniques similar to those used by addictive apps like TikTok and Instagram, Duolingo has managed to gamify language learning, keeping users hooked through streaks, passive-aggressive notifications, and a relatable mascot. Von Ahn's vision is to extend this approach to other subjects, harnessing the power of mobile technology to deliver high-quality education to people worldwide, rich or poor, in a way that feels like indulging in a delightful dessert.

Takeaways

• 😄 The founder, Luis von Ahn, is from Guatemala, a poor country where access to quality education is limited for those without money.
• 🎓 Motivated by his own experience, Luis aimed to provide equal access to education for everyone through Duolingo, starting with language learning.
• 🌐 Duolingo uses a freemium model where the app is free, but richer users can pay to remove ads, essentially subsidizing education for poorer users.
• 📱 Delivering education through smartphones is challenging due to the addictive nature of apps like TikTok and mobile games.
• 🔄 Duolingo employs techniques like streaks and notifications to keep users engaged and motivated to learn regularly.
• 🦉 The passive-aggressive owl mascot and memes have helped Duolingo enter the cultural zeitgeist and promote language learning.
• ⚖️ While educational apps may not be as engaging as social media, the inherent motivation from learning can compensate for the difference.
• 📈 Duolingo has more users learning languages in the US than all high schools combined, showcasing the potential of mobile education.
• 🌱 The goal is to apply similar techniques to deliver quality education in subjects like math and physics through mobile phones.
• 🌟 The key is to make learning enjoyable and addictive, turning "screen time" into a positive educational experience for all.

Q & A

What is the speaker's origin country?

The speaker is from Guatemala.

What was the speaker's main goal related to education?

The speaker wanted to provide equal access to education for everyone.

Which university was the speaker a professor at when he decided to work on his education project?

He was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.

What subject did the speaker and his co-founder decide to teach first through their project?

They decided to teach foreign languages.

Why did the speaker decide to focus on teaching foreign languages first?

They chose foreign languages due to the large global audience learning them, especially English, because knowledge of English can significantly increase income potential.

What technology did the speaker believe was essential to reach a lot of people for educational purposes?

The speaker believed that using smartphones or mobile phones was essential to reach a large audience.

What is the name of the educational platform the speaker co-founded?

The educational platform is called Duolingo.

How does Duolingo sustain itself financially?

Duolingo uses a freemium model, generating most of its revenue from subscribers who pay to remove ads.

What psychological technique mentioned by the speaker is used to keep users engaged in learning?

One of the techniques used is the concept of a 'streak,' which encourages daily usage to avoid resetting the progress counter.

How does the speaker justify the use of engagement techniques common in social media and games for educational purposes?

The speaker justifies it by stating that even if an educational product is not as engaging as social media or games, the meaningfulness and internal motivation of learning can compensate for the engagement gap.

Outlines

00:00

🌎 Duolingo's Origins: Providing Equal Access to Education

Luis von Ahn discusses his background and motivation for founding Duolingo, an educational app designed to provide equal access to education globally, particularly for those in poverty. He explains how his privileged education as an only child contrasted with the educational inequalities in his home country of Guatemala. This inspired him to work on democratizing education by teaching one subject at a time, starting with foreign languages due to their income potential and global demand, especially for English.

05:00

🎮 Gamifying Education: Leveraging Psychological Techniques

To make education engaging on smartphones, Duolingo employs psychological techniques similar to those used by social media and mobile games. These include streaks (tracking consecutive days of use), notifications (reminders to learn), and a pushy owl mascot. Von Ahn explains how these tactics, though controversial in some contexts, effectively motivate users to learn consistently. He cites examples like millions of users maintaining year-long streaks and passive-aggressive notifications prompting users to return.

10:00

⚖️ Balancing Engagement and Meaningfulness

While acknowledging that educational apps may not match the engagement of social media, von Ahn argues that a marginal difference is acceptable because learning provides intrinsic meaning and motivation. He believes leveraging engagement tactics from social media, even if slightly less potent, can still attract hundreds of millions to educational products. His vision is for screen time to facilitate quality education globally, with techniques like those used by Duolingo applied across subjects learned through repetition.

Keywords

💡Education

Education refers to the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, values, and beliefs. In the video, education is presented as a means to bring equality and opportunity to people from different social classes and economic backgrounds. The speaker highlights how access to quality education is often determined by one's financial resources, creating inequality. He emphasizes the importance of providing equal access to education for everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

💡Wealth redistribution

Wealth redistribution is the transfer of economic resources from the wealthy to the less affluent members of society. In the context of the video, the speaker mentions Duolingo's freemium model as a form of wealth redistribution, where wealthier individuals who pay for the subscription essentially fund the education of those who cannot afford to pay. This model allows Duolingo to provide free language education to people from poorer countries, with the costs being covered by subscribers from wealthier nations.

💡Gamification

Gamification refers to the application of game-like elements and mechanics to non-game contexts, such as education, to motivate and engage users. The speaker discusses how Duolingo employs gamification techniques, like streaks and notifications, to encourage users to continue learning languages regularly. These techniques, similar to those used in addictive mobile games and social media apps, aim to make the educational experience more engaging and enjoyable, ultimately promoting consistent learning.

💡Accessibility

Accessibility refers to the degree to which something, in this case education, can be readily accessed or obtained by people, regardless of their circumstances or limitations. The speaker emphasizes the importance of making education accessible to everyone, rich and poor, through the use of smartphones. By leveraging the widespread availability of mobile devices, Duolingo aims to provide language education to people around the world, transcending geographic and economic barriers.

💡Smartphones

Smartphones are mobile devices that combine advanced computing capabilities with a range of features, including internet access, multimedia, and various applications. The speaker recognizes smartphones as a powerful platform for delivering education to a vast audience, as a significant portion of the global population has access to these devices. By developing an app for learning languages on smartphones, Duolingo aims to reach and educate people from diverse backgrounds and regions.

💡Repetition

Repetition refers to the act of repeating something multiple times, often as a technique for learning or reinforcing knowledge. The speaker acknowledges that many meaningful subjects, including languages and mathematics, are learned through repetition. He suggests that gamification can effectively motivate people to engage in the necessary repetition for learning, making the process more enjoyable and consistent.

💡Engagement

Engagement refers to the degree of attention, interest, and involvement that users have with a particular activity or product. The speaker discusses the importance of keeping users engaged in the educational process, using techniques similar to those employed by addictive apps like TikTok and mobile games. By maintaining engagement, Duolingo aims to encourage consistent learning and prevent users from abandoning their language studies.

💡Motivation

Motivation is the driving force that compels individuals to take action and persist in their efforts. The speaker acknowledges that while educational apps may not be as engaging as purely entertainment-focused apps, users' internal motivation to learn and derive meaning from the process can compensate for the gap. By leveraging gamification techniques and providing a sense of progress, Duolingo aims to foster motivation and encourage users to continue their language learning journey.

💡Accessibility

Accessibility refers to the degree to which something, in this case education, can be readily accessed or obtained by people, regardless of their circumstances or limitations. The speaker emphasizes the importance of making education accessible to everyone, rich and poor, through the use of smartphones. By leveraging the widespread availability of mobile devices, Duolingo aims to provide language education to people around the world, transcending geographic and economic barriers.

💡Passive-aggressive

Passive-aggressive refers to a behavior or communication style that indirectly expresses negative emotions or hostility in a seemingly innocuous or non-confrontational manner. The speaker mentions that Duolingo's notifications, which come from their owl mascot, can be perceived as passive-aggressive, using subtle guilt or pressure to encourage users to return and continue learning. This approach, while humorous, aims to motivate users to maintain their language learning habits.

Highlights

Luis von Ahn, the co-founder of Duolingo, aimed to provide equal access to education for everyone, starting with teaching foreign languages.

The decision to teach foreign languages, particularly English, was motivated by the huge global demand for English learning and its potential to increase income.

Unlike subjects like math, where knowledge alone does not directly translate to higher income, learning a language like English can immediately increase one's earning potential.

Duolingo's mobile app approach was chosen to reach a large audience and leverage the widespread access to smartphones globally.

The freemium model allows free access to education while generating revenue from subscriptions, effectively enabling a form of wealth redistribution where the rich fund education for all.

To combat the addictive nature of smartphones and engage users in education, Duolingo employed psychological techniques used by apps like Instagram and mobile games.

The streak feature, displaying consecutive days of use, is a powerful motivator for users to return daily and maintain their streaks.

Notifications are strategically sent at optimal times to maximize user engagement, and even passive-aggressive messaging can entice users to return.

Duolingo's green owl mascot has become a meme for its persistent and sometimes intrusive tactics to encourage language learning.

While educational apps may not be as engaging as social media, the inherent meaning and motivation derived from learning can compensate for a slight difference in engagement.

Duolingo has more users learning languages in the US than all high schools combined, demonstrating the potential of this approach.

The goal is to apply these techniques to deliver high-quality education in other subjects, like math and physics, through mobile devices.

Luis von Ahn hopes for a future where screen time is not seen as a bad thing but rather as a means to provide education to everyone, rich or poor.

Subjects learned through repetition, like reading and elementary math, are particularly suitable for gamification and engagement techniques similar to Duolingo.

For more conceptual subjects, high-quality video explanations, like those provided by Khan Academy, may be more effective.

Transcripts

So, I'm from Guatemala.

This is a public service announcement,

that is where Guatemala is.

(Laughter)

Also, that is not where they keep the prisoners.

That is called Guantanamo.

(Laughter)

Not the same place.

So Guatemala's right below Mexico.

And for the Americans in the audience,

and let this sink in, because it really applies in most ways,

for the Americans in the audience,

you can think of it as Mexico's Mexico.

(Laughter)

Just like the US doesn't want illegal immigration from Mexico,

Mexico doesn't want illegal immigration from Guatemala.

It's a smaller country.

It's a poor country.

And well, what can I tell you,

it has much better Mexican food.

(Laughter)

Guatemala is a very poor country.

And a lot of people talk about education

as something that brings equality to different social classes.

But I always saw it as the opposite, as something that brings inequality.

Because what happens in practice

is that people who have a lot of money can buy themselves a really good education

and therefore continue having a lot of money.

Whereas people who don't have very much money

barely learn how to read and write

and therefore never make a lot of money.

And this is especially true in poor countries.

Now, I was fortunate that I received a rich person's education

even though I didn't grow up rich.

And it’s because I’m an only child.

And my mother, who was a single mother,

spent all of her resources on my education.

And this allowed me to come to college to the US

and eventually get a PhD in computer science.

Now because of all of this

about 10 years ago,

I decided I wanted to do something

that would give equal access to education to everyone.

Oh, by the way, this is what I want to talk to you about today,

giving equal access to education to everyone.

At the time, I was a professor of computer science

at Carnegie Mellon University,

and I decided to work on this with my PhD student, Severin.

The way my brain works,

all of education is just too general of a problem.

So I decided, let's start by teaching one thing.

And then I started thinking, OK, well, what should we teach first?

Should we teach math?

I mean, we both love math.

Me and my cofounder, we both love math.

And, you know, we didn't decide to do math.

Then we started thinking, well, maybe we should teach computer science.

But eventually, and this is maybe surprising to people in North America,

eventually, we decided that the best subject to start with

was teaching foreign languages.

And let me tell you why.

There's a number of reasons.

One of them is that there's a huge audience for it.

There’s about two billion people in the world learning a foreign language,

both in school and outside of schools.

Most of these people, by the way, are learning English.

About 80 percent of them are learning English.

In this weird map right here,

all the countries in green

are countries in which people are predominantly learning English.

And the reason for that

is because English can truly transform your life.

In most countries in the world,

knowledge of English can significantly increase your income potential.

So this is another reason why we decided to start with foreign languages.

And it's because you can directly make more money

if you learn another language, in particular English.

And see, this is pretty different than many other subjects.

For example, take math.

In the case of math,

just knowledge of math does not increase your income potential

because usually you have to learn math to then learn physics

to then become a civil engineer, that's how you make more money.

Whereas with languages, if you are a waiter and you learn English,

now you can be a waiter at a hotel and make more money.

So we decided, well, let's get started by teaching languages.

Now, we also convinced ourselves

that the only way to really reach a lot of people

was by using a mobile phone, or a smartphone in particular.

See, building schools all over the world is simply too expensive.

On the other hand,

most of the world's population already has access to a smartphone,

and the trend is that that fraction is only going to increase.

So we decided at the time

that we would make a way to learn foreign languages on a mobile phone

that was accessible to everyone.

And then we called it Duolingo.

Thank you.

(Applause)

Now in order to truly be accessible to everyone, rich and poor,

Duolingo uses a freemium model to support itself.

What that means is that you can learn as much as you want

without ever having to pay.

But if you don't pay,

you may have to see an ad at the end of a lesson.

Now, if you don't like ads,

you can also pay to subscribe to turn off the ads.

And it turns out that the vast majority of the revenue for Duolingo

comes from people who pay to subscribe to turn off the ads.

Now, who are these people who pay to subscribe to turn off the ads?

Well, they're usually well-off people in rich countries like the US and Canada.

Who are the people who don't pay to subscribe?

They usually come from poorer countries like Brazil or Vietnam or Guatemala.

So what I like about this model

is that it is a small form of wealth redistribution

because we're basically getting the rich people

to pay for the education of everyone.

So I like that.

(Applause)

So with smartphones, we can reach a lot of people

and we can even get the rich people to pay for the whole thing,

which is great.

However, if you're trying to deliver education with a smartphone,

you run into a humongous problem.

And it is that smartphones come equipped

with some of the most addictive drugs that humanity has ever engineered.

TikTok, Instagram, mobile games.

See, 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.

(Laughter)

If you really want to deliver education to everyone,

not only do you have to make it accessible,

but also you have to make it so that people want to actually learn.

And with Duolingo, we've been able to do this.

And at the highest level, the way we've done this

is by making the broccoli taste like dessert.

I'll say it another way.

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.

Let me give you some examples of these techniques.

One of the most powerful ones is the notion of a streak.

What a streak is, is it’s just a counter

that measures the number of days

that you've used the product consecutively.

You just take that number,

you put it very prominently in your product

and then people come back every day.

And the reason people come back every day is because, well,

if they don't come back, that number resets to zero

and people don't want to lose their streak.

It works.

Now, on the one side,

streaks have been criticized for, for example,

getting teens addicted to Snapchat.

But in the case of an educational app,

streaks get people to come back to study every day.

Now, to give you an idea of the power of streaks,

in the case of Duolingo,

we have over three million daily active users

that have a streak longer than 365.

(Applause)

That means they haven't missed a day in the last year or longer.

Now, fun fact about streaks.

What country do you think has the longest average streaks

for an educational app?

It's Japan.

Of course.

Shortest-ever streaks?

Latin America, baby.

(Laughter)

But we're fun, hey, we're fun.

(Laughter)

Another important mechanism to get people to come back to your product

are notifications.

On the one side, notifications can be really spammy and annoying,

but in the case of an educational product,

people actually want to be reminded to learn.

In the case of Duolingo, we have a very sophisticated AI system

that basically chooses when to send the notification

and also what to say in each notification

to maximize the probability that people come back.

Now, interestingly,

even after all this sophistication,

it turns out that the algorithm for choosing what time

to send you a notification is pretty simple.

Do you know what is the best time to send people a notification?

I'll tell you.

It's 24 hours after they used the product last.

There's an easy explanation.

If you were free yesterday at 3pm,

you’re probably free today at 3pm as well.

So this is what a very sophisticated millions of dollars of AI found.

(Laughter)

It's funny.

Now with notifications you shouldn't be spamming.

And we're not spamming, with Duolingo,

we actually stop sending notifications after seven days of inactivity.

So if you don't use Duolingo for seven days,

we stop sending you notifications.

Now, at some point it occurred to us,

if we're stopping to send people notifications,

we should let them know.

So we started sending this notification to people saying,

"Hey, these reminders don't seem to be working.

We'll stop sending them for now."

You know what people do when they get this notification?

They come back.

(Laughter)

Passive aggressive.

(Laughter)

Works for my mother, works for Duolingo.

(Laughter and applause)

These passive aggressive notifications

are really good at getting people to come back

back because they feel like our green owl mascot has given up on them,

so they come back.

And speaking of our green owl mascot, by the way,

because all our notifications come from our green owl mascot

and well, he's passive aggressive and also pretty pushy,

this has given rise to a lot of memes on the internet

that make fun of the great lengths that he will go through

to get you back to learn a language.

Here's one of my favorite ones.

This is it's a meme, it’s one of my favorite ones.

(Laughter)

Basically looks like you forgot your Spanish lessons.

And then there's an intruder alert,

presumably the owl broke into your house to get you to learn language.

Now, Duolingo has entered the zeitgeist.

And there's thousands of memes, there's SNL skits about it.

And it's because we've managed to get people to want to learn a language

by using the same techniques

that mobile games and social media use to get people engaged.

And this is a really important point,

let me say this.

I don't actually believe that there's a way to make an educational app

be as engaging as something like TikTok or Instagram or mobile games.

But the good news is that --

And by the way, the reason I don't believe that

is because ultimately you have to teach people something.

And it's hard to compete with, like, cats and celebrities.

But the good news is that I don't think you have to.

See, here's the thing.

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.

So I think it's actually OK if your educational product

is only 80 or 90 percent as engaging as something like TikTok,

because the other 10 or 20 percent

will be provided by people's internal motivation,

though of course, not much more than that.

This is really a key point.

If we want to get people to do something meaningful,

you can use the same techniques that apps like social media use

to get people to do it.

And even if you're not as engaging as those apps are,

you can still get hundreds of millions of people to use your product.

In the case of Duolingo, for example,

there are more people learning languages on Duolingo in the United States

than there are people learning languages across all US high schools combined.

(Applause)

And this is true in most countries in the world.

My hope is that -- I know we can do this, but, you know,

my hope is that as humanity,

we can do what Duolingo has done for learning languages

but for all other subjects.

Where we can get people to learn math with mobile phones,

like millions of people to learn math with mobile phones

or physics or whatever.

I hope for a future in which screen time is not a bad thing,

in which we can deliver high-quality education to everyone, rich or poor,

using a mobile phone.

But 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.

Thank you very much.

(Laughter)

Thank you.

(Applause)

Helen Walters: Luis, thank you so much.

I wonder if you can just say a little bit more about that last point,

how do you think you can apply this type of thinking

to other subjects?

So you mentioned math, and things like that.

How do you do that?

Luis von Ahn: I think in particular,

subjects that are learned through repetition

and it turns out most things that are kind of really meaningful

are learned through thousands of repetitions.

You learn to read through repetition,

you learn elementary school math through repetition.

Most things that you can learn through repetition,

you can actually gamify and turn into something like Duolingo,

where people just do it a lot and do it fun.

It's a little harder for things like explanations.

That probably is going to require some really good videos.

Sal Khan is doing a really good job with that.

But for things that require a lot of repetition,

I think we can use the same methods.

(Applause)