Claude can teach you how to code now, and more – how to try it

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Anthropic launched learning modes in Claude chatbot and Claude Code. 
• Instead of creating answers, they use the Socratic approach to guide you. 
• You can select ‘Learning’ from the style dropdown to access for free. 

When AI chatbots first appeared on the scene, their differentiator from traditional search engines was their natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, which allowed them to understand and output human-like responses. Since then, people have also shown interest in using those capabilities for learning — and Claude’s newest feature does just that. 

Also: Why AI chatbots make bad teachers – and how teachers can exploit that weakness

On Thursday, Anthropic launched new learning modes for both Claude.ai, its chatbot, and Claude Code, its coding assistant, to help users learn as they use AI to complete tasks. The modes aim to go beyond simply providing answers to users and help them understand how to arrive at the answer themselves through “guided discovery.” 

Here’s what the modes will look like in the chatbot and Claude Code, and how to access them. 

Learning mode in Claude.ai 

All users have access to the new “Learning” preset in Claude.ai, which will tailor Claude’s communication style to meet learning goals. 

Also: Claude can now save you more time by automatically referencing past chats

Instead of just handing over an answer, the mode will take a Socratic approach and guide users through concepts and questions, helping people understand the “why” behind the problem, according to Anthropic. Enabling the mode is as easy as starting a new chat and picking “Learning” from the style dropdown. 

The learning updates follow the 10 new features Claude Code has shipped in the last month alone. The launch comes as educators, parents, and students are navigating how to tackle the use of AI this back-to-school season. 

Other companies are launching similar AI-enabled learning offerings. OpenAI just released Study Mode, which takes a similar Socratic approach to teaching students (though not to everyone’s delight), and Google has made its Google AI Pro plan free for college students. 

Also: Claude Sonnet’s memory gets a big boost with 1M tokens of context

Earlier this year, a charter school network began replacing teachers with AI-led courses, Kira AI launched agents for classes, and recent research found AI tools could help teachers avoid burnout, but with some drawbacks. 

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Learning mode for developers

Claude Code provides developers with coding assistance, available right in the terminal or in integrated development environments (IDEs). The learning mode for coding has to operate slightly differently from the chatbot to cater to developers’ needs, which is why Anthropic has launched two distinct modes. 

Also: Will AI replace all software? Why GPT-5 emboldens the doomsayers

The first is an Explanatory mode, in which Claude explains what it did, why it chose to do that, and the trade-offs it made. Anthropic said this mode is meant to function much like having a senior developer talk through their work process. 

The second is the Learning mode, in which Claude pauses the coding process and asks users to fill in code sections. The parts that the user is requested to fill in will be marked with #TODO, as seen in the example below. The intention here is to increase collaboration in the coding process.