The Owl has Landed! Piloting Duolingo as a DL Platform

Setup and Implementation

Instructors or administrators register their accounts at https://schools.duolingo.com/ or by searching “Duolingo for Schools.” More in-depth professional development videos and training slides, as well as media kits, can be found on Duo for Schools’ homepage. Please check it out! Although most of the examples are from the K-12 area, I still found them very useful in orienting myself, even as several of the videos are slightly out of date.

Programs can register for a new or use a pre-existing Duo account, tied to an email, Google, or Facebook login. For simplicity I recommend using a single account shared with the entire program, ideally tied to a commonly accessed email with login credentials backed up or easily recoverable.

Teachers or admins create classes after registration. Duo automatically imports existing Google classrooms for users logging in via their account. Changes made in Duo might not be synced back to their G-Suite counterparts, but I didn’t have time to test this since our program doesn’t make extensive use of Google Classroom.

How many classes a program needs depends on how many languages the student body speaks. Classes are organized by language group, and cannot be shared between accounts. Students who speak an unsupported language can use the app in English, although this makes the app less accessible for beginners.

Adding Students

Students join on the Duo app, either through a QR scan or typed code. First-time users will set up their profile and complete a placement test before being able to join. The app will be in the student’s home language, something I knew on paper but only realized the true dimensions of by tangling with it in real life. This can add a significant amount of time to set up, and it benefits greatly from having group orientations or push-in lessons. While every program faces constraints on time and energy, I’d recommend a weeklong series for a thorough introduction; but it is possible to make do with either a series of one-on-ones or whatever time is available for computer labs.

Teams piloting the program at Hubbs and attending a training session at Neighborhood House experienced registration issues. Neighborhood House staff used their own Duolingo accounts to practice registration, with the placement test stalling out or failing to launch on Android phones. The issue was unspecified at Hubbs but might be the same.

However, everything worked perfectly at Open Door and we did not encounter this issue! I’ve submitted a support ticket, but have scant documentation, so if you run into this issue please feel free to send in a description and preferably a screenshot to the Statewide DL Helpline at [email protected].

We’re still learning how best to support and implement the platform, and I look forward to troubleshooting the problem and seeing what the causes could be.

Content

Duolingo’s ELL content is something of a known quantity. The general flow of lessons ranges from mix-and-match activities to listening and speaking. Prior Duo users will be very familiar. Differences include slight moderation features, such as the ability to screen “mature” words, the example being “beer.” Several paragraphs above, I mentioned that students who speak unsupported languages will use the app with an English interface. In addition to this, they will also begin at Duo’s “intermediate” level of content. I encourage programs to consider alternative mobile-friendly platforms for beginners who speak languages outside the range of Duo’s support.

Content is automated and comes in a steady flow. Compared to other learning platforms, teachers are limited in creating assignments. Teachers can assign blocks of time, weighted by experience points or “xp”, part of Duo’s systems of gamified engagement. Outside of designating how long assignments take and when they are due, teachers have no other control.

This is enough for programs who want a “plug and play” model, such as at Open Door’s St. Paul campus, but at Minneapolis I found myself wanting more behind-the-scenes information. I would have liked to be able to preview content and to assign specific activities. For example, to align with our in-person classes I would have liked to cordon off practicing long vowels or vowel combinations for our learners in ESL 1. As is, I currently have to preview Duo’s content the hard way, unable to find an outline or support document on the website.

In Duo’s professional development materials, several presentations discuss how to view the full scope of the curriculum via an “assignments” or “skills” tab. In the blog post The new Duolingo homescreen – Duolingo for Schools, Duo announced the end of this feature. These changes went into effect by November 2022 and as of this writing they remain retracted. I hope to one day see their return or a similar feature, but Duo remains very suitable for a less hands-on approach to distance learning.

The Bottom Line

At the end of our pilot, I found myself considering a set of deeper questions. The answers will become clear with time, and until then I still think Duo is a good fit for Minnesota ELL programs. If more programs adopt Duolingo, I’d be interested in seeing how its gamified design compares to more traditional curriculum. It’s an open question whether gems, xp, avatars, infinite hearts, or unique home screen icons (my own app currently resembling a shattered reflection of the owl mascot Duo) helps or hinders students.

I’m also curious as to how Duo for Schools will develop over the course of several years. Since 2022 several major features have changed, resulting in minor discrepancies with the available training materials. Will these materials be updated next year, or is this the first sign of ramped-down support? As of now these are mild concerns, but it pays not to take anything about a DL platform for granted.

Overall Duo remains a strong and attractive candidate for a DL platform. Despite possible compatibility issues in our pilot programs, Duo is still easily accessible and widely supported. A mitigating factor to these growing pains is that expertise grows with time, and that by next year we hope to see Duo usage climb.

While I experienced difficulties at Open Door Minneapolis, my peers in St. Paul have seen great returns in proxy hours and student engagement. I encourage programs looking for a hands-off platform to consider Duolingo along with the usual precautions about taking adequate time to support and onboard both staff and learners.