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# Developer Tested, Educator Approved

Stop marketing to developers and start educating them. Discover how applying proven educational theories to your DevRel strategy unlocks meaningful engagement and builds healthier online communities.

- **Speakers:** [Andrew MacLean](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@andrew-maclean), [MetzinAround](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@metzinaround)
- **Event:** World Congress 2024
- **Published:** August 20, 2024
- **Duration:** 21:52
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/939-developer-tested-educator-approved

## Summary

Shifting the mindset from traditional marketing to developer education allows organizations to treat developers as learners rather than mere customers in a purchasing funnel. By replacing the standard awareness-to-advocacy workflow with an educational progression from remembering facts to creating solutions, developer relations teams can deliver far more meaningful engagements. This approach requires mapping common developer outreach activities directly to established pedagogical theories.

Live coding streams function as digital lab demonstrations utilizing Albert Bandura's social learning theory, which demands edutainment and context-appropriate projects that developers can realistically replicate. Similarly, hackathons mirror classroom group projects rooted in Seymour Papert's constructionism. These technical events require environments that foster "hard fun," encourage productive failure, and ensure the resulting projects empower participants to share beyond a standard pitch.

Digital community management on platforms like Slack or Discord requires the same behavioral enforcement conceptualized by B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning. Healthy developer communities rely on visible moderators, clear expectations, and active praise for good behavior rather than rewarding trolls with attention. Ultimately, developer documentation serves as a foundational lesson plan that must leverage differentiated instruction to support various learning styles. By providing multiple learning paths—such as video tutorials, interactive sandboxes, and text-based code snippets—and clearly stating prerequisite knowledge, teams successfully educate their communities instead of merely funneling them.

**Keywords:** developer relations strategy, live coding tutorials, social learning theory, hackathon organization, productive failure, constructionism, developer community management, operant conditioning, differentiated instruction, api documentation design, developer advocacy, developer marketing funnel, edutainment in tech, technical learning

## Chapters

1. **Reframing developer relations and advocacy as an educational process** (00:02) — Viewing developers as learners instead of software customers improves advocacy outcomes.
1. **Comparing traditional marketing funnels to educational learning taxonomies** (02:35) — Mapping traditional purchasing funnels against educational taxonomies reveals new developer engagement metrics.
1. **Applying social learning theory to technical streams and tutorials** (05:53) — Applying observational learning principles improves the retention and value of technical live streams.
1. **Designing meaningful developer hackathons through the lens of constructionism** (11:18) — Encouraging productive failure and hands-on building creates more effective programming hackathons.
1. **Managing digital developer communities using behaviorism and clear moderation** (13:23) — Establishing explicit guidelines and consistent moderation fosters healthy and productive digital communities.
1. **Structuring technical documentation to support differentiated instruction and learning** (17:08) — Providing multiple format paths inside technical documentation accommodates varying developer experience levels.
1. **Reviewing core pedagogical principles for developer education and advocacy** (20:47) — Adopting educational strategies transforms developer relations from traditional marketing into effective teaching.

## Related Moments

- [Origins and personal definitions of developer communities](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1109-the-power-of-developer-communities) (from "The Power of Developer Communities")
- [Teaching programming and career advice for developer advocates](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/514-give-your-build-some-love-it-will-give-it-back) (from "Give your build some love, it will give it back!")
- [Leveraging developer communities to accelerate learning and debugging](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/565-let-s-get-started-with-apache-kafka-for-python-developers) (from "Let's Get Started With Apache Kafka® for Python Developers")
- [Transitioning from education into developer advocacy roles](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/565-let-s-get-started-with-apache-kafka-for-python-developers) (from "Let's Get Started With Apache Kafka® for Python Developers")
- [Accelerating personal learning by teaching highly technical concepts](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/868-fingerboard-to-keyboard-transposing-one-profession-to-another) (from "Fingerboard to Keyboard: Transposing One Profession to Another")
- [Transitioning into developer relations to blend coding and community](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/239-why-building-an-audience-is-the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-your-career) (from "Why building an audience is the best thing you can do for your career.")

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