What is Duolingo's ability to teach About Creating an Addictive Course? -

Duolingo has developed an online learning experience that is rewarding and effective. This is how you can incorporate its most effective features to your learning.

Four33 days ago, I signed up for an account on Duolingo to the very first time. I know the exact number since that's what my streak is. Since that time I've spent most of my time using the mobile version of their app and I've tried the classes that are available in Spanish, Russian, German, and Korean.

They are indeed! Duolingo isn't without its flaws, but it does deliver an experience for learning that provides a far easier on-ramp to learning a new language than any of its competitors (that I've used). Most importantly, the experiences it offers are useful for educators in other specialties too. If you're in the market for an engaging and interactive e-learning experience, Duolingo is a highly effective approach.

Below are five observations that I've made that can apply to any course that uses e-learning.

1. Use many kinds of gamification, as much as possible.

Gamification is when learning objectives are tied to certain actions or triggers in ways which reward students or encourage competitiveness. Duolingo is not only notable for its use of gamification and effectively, but also for using gamification in a variety of ways. Some of the ones I've seen comprise:

• streaks. Not wanting to end my streak is my main reason why I'm using the app. No joke.
• Points. Duolingo lets learners set a daily point goal in addition to linking points to other gamification elements.
• leaderboards. I don't compete for a top spot every week and whenever I do, you can bet that I enjoy the competition.
• Leagues. Early on, my desire to reach the top league helped me continue my winning streak. This kept me returning until I reached the Diamond league, and now each time I fall from the diamond league, the desire to get back on first place motivates me to participate again.
• badges. I had to reach the diamond league to earn the diamond league badge. Then I had to win the diamond league for this badge. Now I need to earn an award in all areas in a course so that I will be awarded the Conqueror badge. See how it never ends?
• Crowns. Earning crowns provides a satisfying sense of achievement. I like checking off boxes.
• Challenges that are timed. Timed challenges add an additional level of challenge and also boost memory speed. Speaking in a spoken language it is essential to be able to produce words in the correct syntax under the pressure of time. This is a fantastic illustration of how gaming is also a great tool for real-world educational goals.

supports many of these gamification options in the native way, while others may be accomplished through tweaks or other add-ons. For instance, learners get points for taking questions, these points could be tied to a leaderboard and you could set an amount of time for the exams, and badges could be given out when a student does a particular task.

2. Don't be afraid to forgive mistakes.

I'd lost my streak of 433 days at Day 100, if not because of Duolingo's streak thawing. This initially seemed a little like cheating, however the reality is that sometimes life happens. And if I'd lost a streak 100 days in due to a problem come up at work, or due to personal loss, the end of that streak would be pretty demoralizing--so much so that I may decide to stop using the application.

Duolingo also keeps the record of any mistakes you make in order to allow you to review those words again to earn an extra boost in points. So, it's always a chance to get back up in Duolingo. The mistakes aren't irreparable, they're just an area that needs some more time. And if life gets in the way of your getting better at it for a short time it's not necessary to punish you for it.

3. It is important to prioritize flexibility, mobility and mobility.

Instructions taught in Duoliongo seldom last more than five minutes. This means there's almost always the time needed to complete a lesson, and when the content is interesting there's almost always an incentive to do multiple.

But, since the material is so brief and mobile, there are also occasions when I've had to be trying to finish a class in a public space that it's acceptable to repeat the same phrases over and over. Duolingo fixes this by offering choices that read "I cannot listen at the moment," or "I can't speak in this moment." The learners can remain engaged in their studies even in noisy or congested space.

4. Learn a variety of capabilities using a variety of learning styles.

When I started using Duolingo, their lessons mostly involved transcribing sentences back and forward, with or without a word bank. At times, I was asked to listen to a sentence and write down the words I was hearing, or I was asked to read the sentence loud so the app could test my ability to pronounce. Most of the time, questions were based on the same basic format.

Since its launch, Duolingo has expanded question formats and provided new kinds of exercises for learning. The most well-known courses are a "stories" section that includes builds reading comprehension skills. They also have recordings to help develop listening comprehension. Even the regular lessons now include longer audio quests where students must listen attentively for long periods of time, and answer a question about what they were hearing.

These diverse question type cover three of four main parts of learning languages that are writing, reading listening , and speaking. The only one, speaking, which will likely require a one-on-1 conversation with a instructor, isn't covered.

The most important thing is that the variety of content types makes for a more interesting and engaging experience. In the past year I began to get exhausted of translating sentences in and out. When I get bored of my normal classes I am able to switch around with different types of materials.

You can do the same by providing different types of content or with a variety of different types of questions when creating your tests. There are a variety of kinds of questions, such as multiple choice, single choice (true false) as well as fill-in the-blank, matching, sorting and essay.

5. Always be innovating.

Finally, if there's one aspect I've never failed to be amazed by the Duolingo application, it's the fact that over the years I've used it, it's only improved. Each month, it seems they upgrade their features in order to improve the learning experience. They've created challenging new tasks, created an array of characters to enhance their story as well as expanded their badges. created additional formats for questions, as well as launched daily and monthly point-based challenges each with their own gamification reward.

Being a user, I am convinced that the manner in which I use the app is creating an enjoyable feedback loop that will only increase my appreciation of the app with time. This is a very enthralling feeling.

Of course, most educators don't have the resources to pour into a polished application such as Duolingo. However, on a less level, you could pay close attention to your learners when they offer feedbackand constantly consider ways to enhance the learner experience of the course. If you're constantly advancing your knowledge, you won't be taken off-guard by the competition.

It's a lot of work and time to design an enjoyable e-learning experience, but the payoff is enormous.

Duolingo has both its supporters as well as its critics. Myself I am frustrated because it seems that the Spanish course keeps getting longer, while the Russian course remains underdeveloped. A few languages, including Korean do not have enough resources to support learning and writing in the alphabet. I worry that other languages have been added in haste, and more as a show rather than an actual educational experiences.

It can't be denied that Duolingo has invested more in making a positive learning experience for its users than any other learning course I've experienced, and it has achieved this through an obsessive focus on UX, UI, and the data of its users. This focus hasn't just lead to a more addictive app--but one which actually helps students achieve their goals in learning.

After about a year of the Duo Spanish course, where I've obsessively tried to reach the highest level of each skill, I've barely reached Checkpoint 2. However, the other day I had a short conversation in Spanish with two friends. One who had taken Duo's Spanish course and another is an ESL instructor of mostly Spanish-speaking students. My teacher friend asked about the plans we had planned to start the day, and I talked about the ingredients I found in my fridge and offered to make breakfast.

It's not a huge win, but there's nothing like winning to inspire you to continue.