These Questions originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answers by Luis Von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo and reCAPTCHA, computer science professor at CMU, on Quora.
Q: What do you think of MOOCs? Are they the future of education in 20 years or an intermediate thing?
- Active, not passive. Instead of falling asleep while listening to a monotone lecture, Duolingo users learn by doing. Daydreaming is impossible in a context where you're required to interact to move forward.
- Personalized. Because users learn by answering exercises every step of the way, we get a signal about how well they're learning. For example, we can tell if somebody always messes up verb conjugations in the past tense, if they can read but not understand the spoken language, or even if every time they see the word for "chicken" they take an extra 500 milliseconds to answer. We use all of this information (from more than 6 billion exercises per month) to generate unique lessons for each user.
- Fun. Duolingo was designed to feel like a game from the very start. Students have to pass levels in order to unlock new skills, they can earn virtual currency to "buy" virtual goods, etc. MOOCs typically have horrible retention rates, whereas Duolingo doesn't, and it's largely because people like playing games.
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A: I'm not a believer in MOOCs but the way people "prove" their education is definitely going to change. This is one of the things we thought about when we decided to launch Duolingo Test Center to allow people to boost their resumes with a low-cost, 20-minute English exam that can be taken from anywhere.
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A: It's an excellent school for computer science and technology in general, and therefore it's very nerdy. There is also a huge emphasis on practical skills, which makes CMU graduates be pretty ready for jobs. While at Google and at Duolingo, I've hired a number of fresh grads from top engineering schools, and it's always amazing how CMU grads are always ready out of the box, whereas those from other schools need a few months to get up to speed.
- Teaching: What is it like to balance running a tech company and actively teaching at a university? Are there any tips that help?
- Translations: Why has Duolingo moved from translation to certification for monetizing?
- Startups: Is raising money for a startup harder outside Silicon Valley? Why or why not?