Yellowdig Engage Product Update 5/20

May 20, 2020

Yellowdig Engage Product Update 5/20

Unlocking Student Motivation with Gameful Learning

Instructors everywhere face the same uphill climb: getting students to participate meaningfully—especially in online classes. Despite your best efforts, traditional discussion forums can feel more like boxes to check than places for real learning. What’s the antidote? For many educators, the answer is gameful learning.

What is Gameful Learning?

Gameful learning isn’t about turning your classroom into an arcade. It’s about applying the elements of games—clear goals, meaningful choice, and immediate feedback—to academic environments. Platforms like Yellowdig use points, badges, and accolades to recognize real contributions, making participation feel rewarding, not obligatory.

Why Gameful Elements Spark Engagement

Why do students respond so well to this approach? Because gameful mechanics tap into motivation in ways that rote assignments can’t. When students earn points for thoughtful posts or insightful replies, they're encouraged to dig deeper and share experiences. A little friendly competition doesn’t hurt, either—leaderboards spark engagement and help shy students ease into participation.

Yellowdig’s Approach: More Than Just Points

Yellowdig’s platform is built around the idea that engagement should be authentic, not forced. Points aren’t given for empty “I agree” comments, but for contributions that spark conversation and critical thinking. Students can curate their posts with articles or videos that interest them and receive recognition when others interact with their content. This approach fosters intrinsic motivation—students participate because they want to, not because they have to.

Real Results in Real Classrooms

Instructors using Yellowdig consistently report stronger participation and deeper discussion. One faculty member noted that “seventy-five percent of student questions get answered by their peers,” freeing up their time to tackle more advanced topics. Students say they look forward to checking new posts, sharing resources, and earning recognition for meaningful contributions.

Tips for Making Gameful Learning Work

Set Clear Expectations: Let students know how points are earned and celebrate thoughtful interaction, not just frequency.
Offer Meaningful Feedback: Use accolades and comments to highlight particularly insightful posts.
Encourage Creativity: Remind students they can use links, visuals, or even short videos to make their posts stand out.
Foster Healthy Competition: Leaderboards and weekly challenges can energize participation and keep momentum going.

The Takeaway

Gameful learning turns participation from a chore into an opportunity for discovery and community. With the right design, recognition, and tools, you’ll see students take more ownership of their learning—unlocking not just better engagement, but genuine excitement for the subject.
Ready to see how gameful learning can transform your course? Try out Yellowdig and join a thriving community that believes learning should be as rewarding as it is rigorous.

Features

> Community owners and admins may now share quick and easy access to their Community via the new Shareable Links feature. Links may now be created on the Share page and given a custom name or a randomly generated name. Shareable links can be disabled at any time.

> Note: The Shareable Links feature was designed to give students and instructors quick and easy access to curricular and co-curricular Communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Potential use cases include:

Support communities for instructors who are teaching online for the first time.
Pre-enrollment and freshman orientation communities. (Link sharing provides quick access for students who do not yet have university email addresses or Learning Management System accounts.)
Co-curricular interest groups.
Alumni organizations.
Corporate learning programs.
Hybrid or HyFlex classes that have not been (or cannot be) integrated into a Learning Management System. (Note: Inviting students to curricular communities by email is preferable whenever possible.)

> Added confetti animation which triggers upon joining a Community through a shared link.

> Polished email verification system.

Bug Fixes

> Fixed pagination issues on Notifications page.

> Fixed issues with duplicate group membership.

> Fixed issues with redirection after login.

Questions?

> Reach out to us at clientsuccess@yellowdig.com.

Brian Hurlow is the Director of Technology at Yellowdig.

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May 20, 2020