Learn with Real Tools
The medium is the message, the tool is the learning
Learn.co was built to create an immersive educational experience. Using real tools transforms education by moving it from artificial settings into practical application.
Test-Driven Learning
The curriculum lived in git repositories, allowing students to work with actual applications and real coding challenges. All labs were test-driven, requiring students to make the code work while watching tests pass or fail. This approach exposed learners to genuine programming scenarios rather than contrived examples.
The Developer Workflow
Students followed the authentic developer workflow:
- Fork the GitHub repository
- Clone to local machine
- Install environment/dependencies
- Run test suite
- Solve the lab
- Commit to git
- Push to fork
- Create pull request
The Lights
A tracking system used GitHub webhooks to monitor student actions (forks, clones, pull requests). Real-time feedback showed progress through visual indicators that turned green when tests passed.
Students loved the lights and it kept them focused... like a Pavlovian trigger.
Server-Powered Browser IDE
2 Seconds
In 2015-2016, the team built an integrated programming environment accessible through the browser. Users could click "Open" and launch a fully functional development environment in approximately 2 seconds, eliminating setup barriers.
Many developers from this team later worked on GitHub Codespaces.
Unique Over Traditional
The core principle rejected conventional online education. Instead of videos and completion buttons, the platform prioritized distinctive, engaging learning experiences over copying industry standards.
What we rejected:
- Video lectures
- Mark-complete buttons
- Downloadable projects
What we embraced:
- Real repositories
- Automated testing
- Actual pull requests
