Public Service Announcement from Guatemala

Introduction

• Speaker from Guatemala.
• Clarification: Guatemala is not Guantanamo (laughter).
• Guatemala is located below Mexico.

Guatemala's Socio-Economic Context

• Described as "Mexico's Mexico" (laughter).
• Smaller and poorer compared to Mexico.
• Known for better Mexican food (laughter).

Education and Inequality

• Poor country with significant educational inequality.
• Wealthy people can afford better education, perpetuating wealth.
• Poor people receive minimal education, perpetuating poverty.
• Speaker received a high-quality education despite modest means due to single mother's investment.
• Achieved a PhD in computer science.

Educational Mission

• Venkat Raman: Ensure global access to quality education.
• Initial focus: professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon.
• Collaboration with PhD student Severin.

Initial Educational Focus

• Choice to begin with one subject - Foreign Languages.

Reasons for Teaching Foreign Languages

• Huge audience: 2 billion people learning a foreign language globally.
• 80% of learners are learning English.
• Knowledge of English increases income potential, unlike other subjects (e.g., math).
• Importance of a mobile-based learning platform.

Development of Duolingo

• App designed to teach foreign languages on mobile phones.
• Use of a freemium model: free learning with optional ad-free subscription.
• Wealth redistribution: rich countries' users supporting poorer countries' users.

Challenges and Solutions

Competing with Addictive Apps

• Smartphones have addictive apps like TikTok, Instagram, and mobile games.
• The challenge was to make education engaging.

Implementing Engagement Techniques

• Use of psychological techniques from social media and games.

Key Engagement Features

Streaks

• Daily usage counter to motivate continuous use.
• Over 3 million users with streaks longer than 365 days.
• Japan: longest average streaks; Latin America: shortest (laughter).

Notifications

• Timed notifications based on previous usage patterns.
• Stopping notifications after seven days of inactivity to prompt return.
• Passive-aggressive strategy effective.

Mascot and Memes

• Green owl mascot, humorous and pushy character.
• Popular culture impact with memes and SNL skits.

Educational App Limitations and Advantages

• Ed apps may not be as engaging as social media but provide inherent value.
• People have intrinsic motivation to learn and find meaning in educational apps.
• Example: More users learning languages on Duolingo in the US than in high schools.

Future Vision

• Expand Duolingo's approach to other subjects like math and physics.
• Dream: High-quality education accessible to everyone via mobile phones.

Final Reminder

• Encouragement to do daily language lessons.