What can Duolingo teach you About Creating an Addictive Course? -

Duolingo has created an elearning experience that's rewarding and efficient. This is how you can incorporate its most effective features to your course.

433 days back, I signed up for an account on Duolingo as the first time. I'm sure of the exact amount since that's what my streak is. Since then I've spent most of my time with their mobile app, and have tried out the courses offered in Spanish, Russian, German as well as Korean.

Indeed they do! Duolingo does not come without flaws, but it does deliver the opportunity to learn and provides an easier way of learning a new one than the other opponents (that I've tried). Most importantly, the experience it provides has lessons to teachers in different areas in addition. If you're interested in delivering the most engaging online learning experiences, Duolingo is a highly effective approach.

Below are five observations that I've made that can apply to almost any elearning course.

1. Use many kinds of gamification As much as you can.

Gamification occurs when the learning goals are linked to specific actions or triggers in ways which reward students or encourage competition. Duolingo is notable not just because it uses gamification effectively and effectively, but also for using games in various ways. These I've found are:

• streaks. Not wanting to end my streak is my primary reason for me to stay using the app. No joke.
• Points. Duolingo lets learners establish a daily target for points, and also ties points to other gamification elements.
• leaderboards. I don't compete to be the top player every week however, when I do, you can bet that I enjoy the competition.
• Leagues. Early on, my desire to reach the top league helped me keep my streak going. It kept me coming back until I'd reached my Diamond league, and now, every time I slip out of the diamond league, the need to return to the top gets me to compete with the same intensity.
• Badges. I had to make it to the diamond league to earn the diamond league badge. After that, I needed to be the winner of the diamond league in order for that badge. In order to get it, I must earn the highest grade in each skill on a particular course, so I can get the Conqueror badge. See how it never ends?
• Crowns. Earning crowns provides a satisfying sense of achievement. I enjoy checking boxes off.
• Timed challenges. Timed challenges add an additional level of challenge, but the also improve recall speed. When speaking, you need to create words in the correct syntax under the pressure of time. This is a great instance of how games is also a great tool for real-world educational goals.

It supports a variety of these gamification options in the native way, while others may be achieved through modifications or by adding additional features. For instance, learners get points for taking quizzes, points can be linked to a leaderboard or you can put an amount of time for the tests, and badges may be given out when a student takes a specific action.

2. Don't be afraid to forgive mistakes.

I'd lost my streak of 433 days at Day 100, if not due to Duolingo's streak freezing. It initially felt as if I was cheating however the reality is that Sometimes life can happen. In the event that I lost a streak 100 days later the event of a crisis arise at work or because of a personal loss, the end of this streak would seem pretty demoralizing, to the point I could even decide to quit the app.

Duolingo will also keep records of the mistakes made in order to allow you to repeat those phrases for an extra boost in XP. So, it's always an opportunity to improve in Duolingo. The mistakes aren't irreparable, they're simply an area that requires some practice. In the event that life gets in the way of your learning for a little bit it's not necessary to hold yourself accountable for your mistakes.

3. Make sure you have flexibility and mobility in the top priorities.

Instructions in Duoliongo rarely take more than five minutes. That means that there's always the time needed to complete an activity, and if the content is interesting and engaging, there's usually a good reason to go on with more than one.

But, since the material is so short and so mobile, there are also occasions when I've had to be having to work on a task in a public space that it's appropriate to be repeating the same phrases over and over. Duolingo can help by providing alternatives that state "I don't have the time to listen now," or "I can't use my voice in this moment." It allows learners to remain engaged in their studies even in crowd or in a busy area.

4. Learn a variety of skills with a variety of learning styles.

In the beginning, when I began using Duolingo, the lessons involved translating sentences back and forth using or without a word bank. Sometimes I would be asked to hear a phrase and write down what I heard, or I was asked to read out a phrase loud to check my ability to pronounce. Most of the time, questions were based on the same basic format.

Since then, Duolingo has expanded question format and introduced new types of exercises for learning. Their most popular courses include a "stories" section that includes builds reading comprehension skills. Additionally, they offer audio-based lessons that help build listening comprehension. The regular classes now have longer audioquests in which learners have to listen carefully for a long time and answer a question about the content they have experienced.

Together, these various question type cover three of four major aspects of language learning that are writing, reading speaking and listening. Speaking, which would probably require a one-on-one conversation instructor, isn't covered.

In the end, the diversity of different types of content creates an exciting and enjoyable experience. One year ago I was getting tired of reading sentences back and forth. Now, when I grow bored of my normal classes I'm able to change it to other types of materials.

It is possible to do this by offering different content types--or with a variety of problem types when building your tests. includes a number of different question types, including multi-choice, single-choice (true false), fill-in-the-blank, matching, sorting, and essay.

5. Always be innovating.

If there's one aspect I've never failed to be impressed by with the Duolingo application, it's the fact that over the years I've been using it, the app has only improved. Every month they update their features to provide a more enjoyable learning experience. They've introduced challenging new tasks, created the characters they've introduced to enhance their story and have also expanded their badges. They've designed additional question formats as well as launched daily and monthly points challenges having their own unique reward for gamification.

Being a user, I am convinced that the way I'm using the app is creating an positive feedback loop which enhances my experience of the app over time. This is a very enthralling feeling.

Naturally, the majority of teachers aren't equipped to pour into a polished app such as Duolingo. But at a smaller scale, you can keep an eye on the students who provide feedbackand constantly look for ways to improve the learning experience for your course. If you're always staying fresh, you won't be taken off-guard by the competition.

It takes time and care to develop an engaging online learning experience. However, the reward is huge.

Duolingo has both its supporters and detractors. For my part I am frustrated because the Spanish learning process is getting more and more lengthy as the Russian course remains underdeveloped. Some languages, such as Korean, don't have nearly enough resources to support learning and writing in the alphabet. In addition, I worry that other languages are being added in a hurry, more for show than a real education process.

However, it can't be disregarded that Duolingo has put more effort into making a positive experience for their users than any other learning program I've ever experienced. It it has achieved this through an intense focus on UX, UI, and user data. The focus on data and UX has not only led to a better-loved app, but one that actually aids learners achieve their learning objectives.

After one year of Duo's Spanish course, in which I've been determined to get to the highest level of each ability, I'm only at Checkpoint 2. The other day, I was having a brief chat in Spanish with two of my friends, one of whom had completed Duo's Spanish course and the other of whom is an ESL instructor of mostly spanish-speaking students. The teacher asked me what we planned to start the day, and I shared the food items I had in my refrigerator and offered to make breakfast.

It's a small victory however, nothing beats winning to inspire you to continue.