Hej, I’m Kristine Michelsen-CorreaHead of Community, Duolingo
@hejkristinemc
Empowering Volunteers to Contribute to a Global Mission
I believe through collective action we can achieve more
We believe everyone should have access to education of the highest quality - for free.
We started with a handful of course offerings
We now offer over 60 language courses
85 million people learning a language for free
Photo source: gatesnotes.com
Where volunteers bring life to new language courses
A duck says good morning.
En and siger godmorgen.
You must be mission driven
Power map data across the world
Spread Ideas
Promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the web
Provide software for the public good
Free language education for the world
To collect knowledge disseminated around the globe
• Can your mission be furthered? • Do people feel a personal connection?• Is there a problem that provides value to
others when solved?• Is your project community driven bottom up
& not top down?
Can your community help?
Step 1Define goals of program
Step 2
Open small parts
Step 4Learn and iterate
Step 3
Track progress
Define Goals: Step 1
• Different levels of contribution
• High quality content
• Ease of contributing
• Multiple languages
• Engaging and fun
• Incentives to participate
Challenges
• Why are you doing this?
• How much are you willing to invest?
• What’s your timeline?
• How do you evaluate the program?
• Who are your volunteer leaders?
• What are the community guidelines/norms?
Ask yourself some questions to set realistic goals
Contribute to a course. Change the world.
Build free language courses
Build the course’s curriculum
Support contributors through experience
Start small: Step 2
How we got started
Launched select languages
Didn’t worry about automation
Found volunteer leaders
Empowered contributors
Build the right tools as you grow
Workshop: Course creators’ toolbox
Tracking Progress: Step 3
What are you tracking?
Invite people to join community
Learn and Iterate: Step 4(repeat)
What are the incentives for volunteers?
5 traits of a great volunteer
• Believes in mission• Enthusiastic• Flexible• Committed• Communicative
PhD in the sociology of the internet
Big data consultant
Scientist working on the immune system and
cancer, PhD
Incubator SummitApril 30th, 2015, Berlin
So, what can we accomplish together?
40+ new language courses created by volunteers
(millions more people learning for free)
More people on Duolingo learning Irish than native speakers in the world
Together we can achieve more than when we think and act alone
Thank youKristine Michelsen-Correa
Head of Community, Duolingo@hejkristinemc