Accolades are awards for outstanding contributions. When a student receives an accolade for a post or comment, they receive a point bonus (depending on your point settings and on the student’s proximity to the periodic max). While accolades can help drive engagement and “gamify” the Community, accolades must be used judiciously to positively impact your Community. Accolades should not be used in the following ways:

To assign a “grade” to every single post or comment.

To indicate that a post or comment satisfies a minimal academic standard.

To reward users for vaguely defined “good work”.

On the contrary, we urge instructors to use Accolades as follows:

To recognize and reward truly outstanding contributions. When everyone gets a trophy, trophies lose their meaning. The same goes for accolades. As a general rule, you should give accolades to no more than 10% of Posts and Comments. To motivate behavior changes, accolades should be experienced as intermittent rewards. They should be attainable but rare.

To reward specific contributions to the Community. Accolades aren’t just shorthand for “good job”. Rather, accolades should reward contributions that help the Community in specific and diverse ways. Some contributions illuminate a problem or solution; some contributions get others talking; and some contributions help others achieve insights or experience “eureka moments”. The best contributions are often the most Socratic; they help others “see the light” for themselves. Our default accolades were written to target specific contributions to the Community, but you can create or edit accolades as you see fit.

Why? When used correctly, Accolades are a powerful motivational tool. They incentivize high-quality content, make learners feel appreciated, and set good examples for other learners to follow. But just as grades cease to motivate when everyone gets an “A”, so Accolades cease to motivate when everyone gets accolades for every post they write. And just as grading criteria should be clear to students, accolade criteria should be clear to learners. We strongly encourage you to reward learners for promoting specific kinds of conversational goods and to reserve accolades for exemplary contributions.

#2: Be the model for your learning community

The best Yellowdig instructors model the kind of posting and commenting behavior they want to see. Instructors should aim to reach the 100% participation goal by the end of the Community, and they should engage in a mix of posting, commenting, and reacting behaviors.

Do I have to? If this sounds onerous, consider the alternative! Maintaining a traditional discussion board requires writing prompts and meticulously grading students’ responses. Wouldn’t you rather read a few posts and comments, give out a few reactions and accolades, and participate in your Community as an equal member?

#3: Introduce yourself

An easy way to kickstart the Yellowdig experience is to create an introduction post where instructors tell their learners a few things about themselves using the “Introduce Yourself” topic. Instructors can attach a photo and write a paragraph, or they can record a video self-introduction from within the Yellowdig platform. Instructors can ask learners to do the same in addition to reacting to and commenting on others’ introduction posts.

Why? This will expose new Community Members to topics as well as three of the main functions of Yellowdig (posting, commenting, and reacting) in a low-stakes manner.

#4: Gamify your participation

If you think your Community could use an extra “jolt”, we recommend making up some additional “games” to build and maintain excitement. You could, for example, make a deal with your learners: Tell them that if half of the class has more than a certain number of posts by the end of the week, you will waive an assignment due after an upcoming holiday. Or let them know that if every student comments at least twice in a given week, you’ll share an embarrassing picture of yourself from middle school. Then make a “big reveal” in class, letting them know whether the class met these challenges. Within the Community Health dashboard and topic analysis sections, you can quickly monitor whether your students have met the challenges you issue.

Why? Yellowdig has a number of functions and tools in place to automatically build motivation, but a lot of these tools and other functions can be used creatively by instructors to easily take their motivation to the next level.

Audience: This help article is for Instructors, Designers, and Administrators.

The post Do These 4 Things During Your Yellowdig Community appeared first on Yellowdig.

[Italicized & bracketed] text must be changed or reviewed.

Additionally, if you don’t have all your point-earning categories enabled (such as points for reactions or comments on posts), you will need to revise the templates accordingly.

For additional assistance introducing Yellowdig to your students, feel free to reach us at clientsuccess@yellowdig.com.

Sample Yellowdig Announcement to Post in Learning Management System

Welcome to class! We will NOT have the typical weekly discussion question that you may be used to seeing in other classes. Instead, we are going to be creating a course community where we have real conversations about course-relevant topics. You are welcome to share your own relevant experiences, interesting articles, or examples you see from the real world of the topics we are covering in class, ask questions, answer your peers’ questions, or continue conversations we start in class. I really want you to read what others are thinking and to learn more along with them, which is what makes this a great learning experience.

To be clear you do not need to start a new conversation yourself, but you should participate regularly in the community by reading and talking about what other students are sharing. This way of building a course community puts you in the driver’s seat. Just remember – everything that is discussed in Yellowdig should be related back to one of the course topics. The point of our community is to interact with other students and me to maximize your learning and curiosity about the topic and to collectively help incorporate the most current events and cutting-edge information into this course.

You are encouraged to comment on and react to the excellent posts and comments that your peers produce, which will reward them with additional points for their efforts. In addition, I will reward particularly exemplary Posts and Comments and point out important conversations by giving Accolades or commenting myself. You should not expect me to comment on every post though. You are strongly encouraged to contribute to our Yellowdig Community early and often, which will help you earn points easier and hopefully make them an afterthought. You can always participate more, but there is a limit to how many points you can earn each week. If you reach that limit you can start earning points again after each weekly reset. This system helps the community stay active and valuable throughout the whole term. To learn more about points, go to “show details” at the bottom of the point display (on the right side of the community feed).

If you have questions about how this will work, launch into Yellowdig and ask me there. If you use the @ and type in my name to mention me, I’ll get a notification so I’ll be sure to see your question and everyone can benefit from the answer.

Remember, the “conditions” that influence your point-earning:

You will only earn points when talking about Topics with the points turned on (the colored-in Topics).

You are limited to only earning [ ___] points in each week/period. Participate early and regularly.

Syllabus Template

Using Yellowdig

Yellowdig is an online conversation platform for [your course]. You receive points for participating in Yellowdig conversations, and the points you receive in Yellowdig factor into your final grade. Each week, you can earn up to [periodic max] points. To get an “A” in Yellowdig, you must have at least [100% participation target] points by the end of the course. If you reach the weekly max by the end of each week, you are guaranteed to get an “A” in Yellowdig.

The grading period for Yellowdig will begin on [starting date] and end on [ending date]. Your Yellowdig grade is worth [x%] of your final grade.

You receive points for interacting and engaging with your peers in the following ways:

NOTE: The point values and rules listed below for interacting and engaging in Yellowdig will vary from institution to institution. Please check the Earning Rules in your community and fill them out accordingly.

Starting a new conversation:

[A] points for creating a new post

[B] points for the post having more than [X] words

Continuing a conversation

[C] points for creating a new comment or reply

[D] points for the comment or reply having more than [Y] words

Adding specific content

[E] points for adding a video to a post or comment

Connecting with the community

[F] points for each comment from another user on your posts

[G] points for each reaction received from another user on your posts and comments

+varied points for accolades awarded on your posts and comments:

[Accolade 1] : [x] points

[Accolade 2]: [y] points

…

[Accolade n]: [n] points

You are encouraged to reward your peers for producing excellent content by commenting on and reacting to their Posts. In addition, I will reward particularly exemplary Posts and Comments by giving Accolades. To earn as many points as possible, you are strongly encouraged to contribute to our Yellowdig Community early and often. Just keep in mind that, once you reach the weekly max, you cannot earn additional points until the weekly reset deadline ([deadline day and time]).

Yellowdig passes back your Yellowdig grade to [your LMS] as a proportion (a percentage) that represents your current pace toward getting an “A” in Yellowdig. Therefore, the points you see in Yellowdig might not match the points you see in [your LMS]. If any of this confuses you, just remember: if you end every week with a Yellowdig grade of 100%, you are guaranteed to get an “A” in Yellowdig.

What should I do in Yellowdig?

I really want you to read what other people are thinking about and have real conversations about course-relevant content. Please pay attention to the fact that you will earn quite a few points when other people react to your Posts and Comments. Your Posts will also get more points if they get a good conversation started (i.e. if people comment on them). So think about your audience when you participate (i.e., your fellow classmates). Also, be sure to recognize good posts by reacting to them and talking about them.

It is also helpful to realize that you can’t get points from people interacting with your posts if you don’t have posts up in the community feed for other students to see. Therefore, coming in earlier in the week and getting good conversations started can actually save you work. I (or the TA) will also be dropping in occasionally to give Accolades to exceptionally thoughtful Posts. You’ll increase your odds of your posts receiving that recognition if you have them up and I can see you are contributing to a vibrant conversation.

Our Community will thrive when we treat each other with respect and sensitivity. We will be adopting Yellowdig’s code of conduct for this course. [I also remind you of our institution’s policies around student conduct: Link to or list additional ground rules]

A few additional recommendations:

Watch Yellowdig’s student orientation videos.

Peruse the Features and Functionality section of Yellowdig’s Knowledge Base.

If you have any technical questions or are having trouble, send Yellowdig a support ticket here.

Take advantage of features like #hashtags and @mentions to bring your conversations to life!

Addendum for Direct Student-Payment Communities

For clarity on student-pay courses, it may be helpful to also include more information that explains how payment is processed. We would recommend the following:

You will be asked to pay for Yellowdig for this course. The following information may be helpful:

Cost: [$xx.xx].

How to Pay:

When you access your course in [your LMS] for the first time, you will see a link to Yellowdig within the course navigation.

Upon launching the tool for the first time, you will see a payment window asking for a credit card payment.

After processing your payment, you will be given access to the course’s Yellowdig community for the duration of the academic term.

If you have questions/issues while making your payment, please contact Yellowdig Support here or email support@yellowdig.com.

If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to purchase access to Yellowdig for our course, please reach out to me via email and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Addendum for Bookstore Access Code Communities

For clarity on bookstore access codes, it may be helpful to also include more information that explains how your specific school bookstore distributes access codes. We would recommend the following:

You will be asked to enter a Yellowdig access code for this course. The following information may be helpful:

You will first receive your Yellowdig Access Code from the school bookstore. This code is needed to get into Yellowdig, and it provides access to a single community for the academic term.

How to Join the Yellowdig community once you have your bookstore access code:

When you access your course in [your LMS] for the first time, you will see a link to Yellowdig within the course navigation.

Upon launching the tool for the first time, you will see a payment window asking for a bookstore access code (see more details here).

After entering your access code, you will be given access to the course’s Yellowdig community for the duration of the academic term.

If you have questions/issues while making your payment, please contact Yellowdig Support here or email support@yellowdig.com.

If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to purchase access to Yellowdig for our course, please reach out to me via email and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Assignment Template

Your Yellowdig Community

It’s my pleasure to welcome you to Yellowdig, your online community platform for the duration of our course.

Unlike typical [your LMS] discussions where everyone responds to the same prompt, Yellowdig lets you share and discuss real-world content (articles, videos, etc.) that YOU feel is relevant to lectures and readings or to ask questions you are curious about or need to know. As you create posts and make comments, and as other students react to or comment on your posts, you will automatically receive participation points. To be clear, using Yellowdig is a required part of the course, and the points you acquire will account for [20%] of your course grade.

The points you earn in Yellowdig are passed to the [your LMS] grade book, where you will see the grade you are currently on pace to earn. Your grade will not finalize in the grade book until the end of the term or until you’ve earned all the points you need. To learn more about how points work, see this help article along with the Show details link inside Yellowdig (shown in the image below).

To earn the [10,000] points required for an “A” in Yellowdig by the end of the course, you will need to reach [1000] points per week on average over the next [10] weeks. This Community has a point buffer of [35%], meaning you can earn up to [1350] points per week. That means that, if you always participate up to the weekly maximum, you can reach the [10,000] point participation target in as few as [8] weeks.

At [9:00 PM every Friday], the weekly maximum points will reset, and you will again have until the following [Friday] to get up to the weekly maximum. If you are having a fun conversation, you can always keep posting even after you have reached the weekly maximum; you will just stop earning additional credit toward your grade until the next [Friday at 9:00 PM].

For the first week I’d like you all to get used to using Yellowdig by following my example and introducing yourselves. Please use the “Introduce Yourself” Topic and share a bit about who you are and what you hope to get out of taking this class. If you click on the “Introduce Yourself” Topic on the right or search for my name, you should be able to find my introduction and some ideas about things to post. Don’t forget to share pictures, videos, or interesting links about you and your accomplishments!

For the rest of the semester I want you to share interesting examples you see from the real-world of the topics we are covering in class, ask questions, or continue conversations we start in class. You do not need to create your own post every week, but you should participate regularly. It’s perfectly acceptable to earn your points by reading and talking about what other students are sharing. The point here is that you interact with me and other students to maximize your learning and curiosity about the topic and that we collectively help incorporate the most current events and cutting edge information into this course.

I’ll be talking more about this in class on [Monday], but if you have questions about how this will work, launch into Yellowdig, try to create a post, and ask me there. If you use the @ and type in my name to mention me, I’ll get a notification so I’ll be sure to see your question.

Addendum for Student-Payment Communities

For communities that are student-paid, we recommend adding this additional piece here to explain the cost and why you think this is a worthwhile investment:

You will be asked to pay a small fee for Yellowdig unless you have reason for an exemption. Unlike an expensive textbook or homework tool, I believe this will be an exciting tool you will want to use and that there will be a lot to gain from using it, especially if we take full advantage of it together. [Insert personal anecdotes that are specific to you and your course here.] No matter how hard we try in other aspects of the course, I know many of you have questions that may go unanswered, insights that go left unsaid, or important things you’d like to talk out with other people without resorting to public social media. It may be nice to know that one reason there is a cost to a Yellowdig license is because they do not advertise to you or sell your personal data.

I do understand that this cost could be a burden, and I do not want that to block access to these benefits, so if you are someone who is experiencing financial hardship or are unable to purchase Yellowdig for our class, please reach out to me via email and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Instructor Video Introduction Script

We also recommend clearly setting expectations for students about what you expect of them and, perhaps even more importantly, what they can expect from you in the community. This is easily done inside Yellowdig’s post editor using our video capture feature. We would suggest pinning this to the top of the community for the first few days students are accessing the community. View a suggested script here.

Audience: This help article is for Instructors, Designers, and Administrators. Students or Learners do not have access to these settings.

Articles in this section

Become a Certified Yellowdig Instructor

Getting Started in Yellowdig FAQ [FOR INSTRUCTORS]

Telling Your Learners About Yellowdig [FOR INSTRUCTORS]

Video Script – Set the Stage for Your Learning Community [FOR INSTRUCTORS]

Create a New Yellowdig Community

Yellowdig Communities Outside of the LMS

The post Telling Your Learners About Yellowdig [FOR INSTRUCTORS] appeared first on Yellowdig.

What do I want my learners to have conversations about in the Yellowdig Community?

How do I make sure they are having conversations about course relevant topics without giving a prompt?

First start by thinking about “student friendly” and specific topic tags. What is meant by student friendly is that the student will be able to connect course content to the topic tags that are created. Specific means topics that help students focus on course information. For example, the topic tags below may be the concepts / theories in the class, but do the students really have the foundational knowledge to have a conversation about these topics? Some of the topics are also too broad.

Below scroll through a list of topics that are a bit too full of jargon or too broad so that they would be difficult for students to apply. Remember – this is an example of what NOT to do.

When using a topic tag with the description such as “week 1”, the connection for learners to start a conversation is not there. How will the learners make connections to different ideas in class? How will they know what is being covered each week without having to reference other materials? Including topic names of weeks or modules doesn’t help learners make connections to course content nor increase memory of learning information.

Below, scroll through an example of topics that are too generic and would be difficult for students to use and draw connections between. Remember – this is an example of what NOT to do.

Think about what topics you would like the learners to talk about and what they understand. In other words, think like a learner.

Below you will find topic tags that learners can connect to and start conversations. With topic tags that are easy to understand and connect to, learners feel more comfortable and empowered to share their ideas.

Below, scroll through an example of topics that are well tuned to learners’ needs. Remember – this is an example of what TO do.

Your topic tags will be the catalyst to great conversations. Creating course related topics that learners connect to will bring the joy of learning to your Yellowdig Community.

For more information on topics, please check out The Topic is the Topics article.

The post Tuning Topics appeared first on Yellowdig.

This article is intended to help you discover, as I did, how you can move away from prompts and provides answers to some common questions.

Q: How will learners know what to talk about?

A: When starting a Yellowdig community as a part of your course, it’s easy to let learners know that Yellowdig is different from a discussion board. As your course starts, let your learners know that in Yellowdig they have agency to start their own conversations, ask and answer peers’ course questions, and share their own experiences and observations, taking abstract course concepts and finding connections to make course concepts relevant to their lives. In Yellowdig, an instructor can create Yellowdig Topics based on the course concepts to guide these conversations in the community.

For further information: The Topic is Topics Tuning Topics and Video Script for Setting Expectations in Yellowdig

Q: I prefer the prompted route – why doesn’t Yellowdig recommend this?

A: When requiring prompted discussions, instructors typically assign only one or two ideas from the weekly content for learners to address. In Yellowdig when allowing learners to lead conversations about course content, there will be a variety of ideas to explore both widely and deeply. Yellowdig creates the opportunity to cover more information with more diverse and robust conversations and doesn’t limit conversations to a single week. Rather than each learner posting a response to the same question, learners have the opportunity to explore a variety of ideas through longer conversations.

Additional technical information: It is important to note that Yellowdig was designed with the expectation that learners would mostly be the ones starting conversations. The design of the feed algorithm, the point rewards, and the hierarchy of comments all are based on students creating posts. Therefore, we very strongly recommend against having students respond to assignments by commenting on posts you have created. If you are going to do this, instead, create a Yellowdig Topic for the assignment and then ask your students to use that topic when creating their own posts.

Q: How does Yellowdig take into account the quality of posts?

A: The gameful learning point system is designed to motivate learners to create quality posts and generate conversations as learners are rewarded with additional points from peers for valuable contributions to the community. Instructors and facilitators still have the ability to easily flag, review, edit, and/or remove any posts and comments that are inappropriate. Instructors can also easily call attention to valuable conversations by commenting or through the use of accolades.

Q: My discussion questions have always been tied to outcomes. How is this measured in Yellowdig?

A: Yellowdig allows the instructor or course designer to shape conversations to Yellowdig Topics based on course concepts, ensuring that learners are having conversations related to the learning outcomes. Yellowdig provides instructors with a multitude of data and reports related to learner interaction in the community, as well as learner interaction on Topics. You can view the percentage of Topics tagged and search by Topics. This data can be used as a formative assessment, providing a window into their learners’ interactions so instructors can provide ongoing feedback. Yellowdig Topics also allow instructors to see how their learners are making connections between multiple concepts as the term goes on.

Q: Can I use Yellowdig for a summative assessment?

A: We recommend creating an assignment outside of Yellowdig for your summative assessments. Yellowdig was designed to encourage conversations about the course topics and provides excellent formative assessment information. Rather than telling learners what to talk about, Yellowdig gives them the space and opportunity to talk about readings, videos, theories, etc. that they want to explore further or have questions about. This gives critical insights on what learners are understanding and helps instructors to guide the learning accordingly.

Q: Am I able to redirect Yellowdig conversations?

A: Instructors can leverage an off-base conversation as a learning opportunity by adding a comment to guide learners toward the correct concepts and extend that conversation. If necessary, instructors and facilitators have the ability to add or remove points and flag posts. As with any classroom management, instructors and facilitators can contact learners to provide guidance and support the students.

Q: I am very intentional about creating safe spaces where my learners can discuss the course material and am concerned about inclusivity. How does Yellowdig help?

A: By its gameful and social nature, Yellowdig generally creates a safe space for learners and rewards them for providing thoughtful contributions to the community. When following Yellowdig’s best practices, poor behaviors rarely occur as these behaviors are not rewarded. In addition, learners have the ability to post anonymously to the community (while the instructor can still see who they are) to provide a feeling of safety to learners who might otherwise feel uncomfortable sharing their questions, experiences, and thoughts. Yellowdig is designed to encourage engagement and deeper thinking of learners. It gives learners a safe space to think about what they are learning and make connections to the material. Each learner has the opportunity to participate equally in the community.

Q: Do you have any examples of learner led posts that you could share to help me better envision how conversations happen about course topics without a prompt?

A: Sure! Let’s look at three posts from three different learners that were posted in a Public Speaking class which included information about ethos, logos, and pathos and how they are included within a speech. Notice how each learner presented a unique example and perspective on the material.

We are happy to consult with you on ways to create an engaged Yellowdig community.

To work with a Success Manager, please email clientsuccess@uic.rlj.mybluehost.mem.

About the Author, Janeen Galligan:

Janeen Galligan, Masters of Applied Communication. After 20+ years, Janeen switched from teaching a variety of Communication and Business classes in multiple higher education institutions to working for an educational technology company. In her role as a Success Manager Janeen is fortunate to support instructors who use Yellowdig and provide their learners an opportunity to grow and connect with one another.

The post A Q & A on Shifting from Prompts to Topics appeared first on Yellowdig.