Runestone Guiding Principles
Runestone exists to improve how students learn by making learning active, observable, and improvable. We believe students learn best when they engage directly—writing code, solving problems, answering questions, making mistakes, and receiving immediate feedback. Passive reading is not enough. Runestone is built to support that cycle at scale.
Active Learning First
Runestone is designed around interaction, feedback, and engagement. Every feature must support students doing—not just consuming.
Students Are the Primary Beneficiary
Instructors adopt Runestone and institutions support it, but students are who we build for. When priorities conflict, we ask: does this help students learn?
Open by Default
Runestone is free and open source. Anyone can run it, modify it, and extend it. Our hosted platform, Runestone Academy, exists to make adoption easy for instructors who cannot or do not want to run their own server.
Student Privacy is Non-Negotiable
We collect only the data necessary to support learning. Personally identifiable student data is never sold, shared, or used for purposes unrelated to education.
Accessibility is a Requirement
All students must be able to use Runestone. Accessibility is not an enhancement—it is a baseline requirement. If something is not accessible, it is not finished.
Data Serves Learning
Runestone collects fine-grained interaction data to improve learning outcomes. We are not in the business of surveillance. Every piece of data we collect must have a clear pedagogical purpose.
Insight Over Data
Raw data is not the goal. Runestone provides instructors with actionable insights—tools that help them understand student progress and intervene effectively.
Interoperability Over Lock-In
Runestone integrates with other systems using open standards whenever possible. We avoid proprietary approaches that trap users or create unnecessary complexity.
Pedagogy Drives Technology
New capabilities should have a clear rationale in learning science. Runestone is a platform for pedagogical research, and that research tradition should inform what we build and why. New features must be justified by their impact on teaching and learning, not by technical novelty.
Empower Instructors
Runestone amplifies the effectiveness of instructors. It does not attempt to replace them, automate them away, or reduce teaching to a dashboard.
Simplicity Enables Sustainability
Every feature carries a long-term cost. We favor simple, maintainable solutions and resist unnecessary complexity—even when it is tempting.
Focus is a Feature
We deliberately choose what not to build. Protecting the core mission matters more than expanding scope.
Built for Research
Runestone supports pedagogical research through transparency, reproducibility, and ethically collected data.
Community Over Institution
Runestone’s long-term sustainability depends on a broad community of contributors, adopters, and advocates — not on any single maintainer, organization, or funder. We make decisions that strengthen collective ownership.
What Runestone Is Not
Not a Learning Management System
Runestone complements LMS platforms; it does not attempt to replace them.
Not a High-Stakes Assessment Platform
Runestone is built for learning, practice, and formative assessment—not secure, high-stakes exams.
Not a Data Brokerage
Runestone does not monetize student data—period.