Login
Book a Free Demo

Blog

News

Blog Posts

Fresh perspectives, proven strategies, and stories from real Yellowdig classrooms.
Featured
When Vulnerability Leads to Engagement : A Yellowdig Story

Dr Heather Young University of Florida   Challenge: In large online courses, students often feel like just a “face on a screen” or a number. Traditional discussion boards often result in “compliance” posts, posting once and replying twice just to check a box,which lack originality and real connection. The human moment Dr. Young shared a […]
Burnout Isn’t Just Workload… It’s Emotional Load : A Yellowdig Story

LaToya Devezin Penn West University Challenge: Faculty burnout is no longer just about time. It’s the pressure of large classes, constant grading, and trying to support every student—often all at once. The human moment LaToya described what burnout actually feels like behind the scenes. It’s not just the volume of work; it’s the expectation to […]
Why Discussions Don’t Feel Like Conversations : A Yellowdig Story

Jill AndersonNC State University   Challenge: Online course discussions lack real conversation. Students participate out of obligation, and faculty must grade every interaction. Engagement becomes routine, not meaningful. The human moment Jill described a frustration many instructors recognize immediately. Discussion boards, meant for interaction, often fail. Instead of real dialogue, students simply complete assignments. As […]
Latest at Yellowdig
Yellowdig
Tuning Topics

Are you ready to create topic tags for a Yellowdig Community and don’t know where to start? Start by answering these questions. 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 […]
AI
The AI horse is out of the barn: How we approach it now will determine whether it hurts us.

Generative AI systems like ChatGPT, recently made available by OpenAI, are a fascinating use of emerging technology that has captured the world’s attention. Search instances for “AI” peaked at an all-time high in December 2022 as a direct result of conversations about that system (trends.google.com). It’s not just the “tech nerds” that know about this […]
Yellowdig
Cultivating a Faculty Community within Yellowdig

Why Yellowdig? At the University of Central Florida (UCF), our division supports faculty and students by leveraging technology, practices, and innovation in online learning. In alignment with UCF’s 2027 strategic plan, we strive to investigate and pilot new technologies with our faculty and students. While searching for a way to improve online student engagement through […]
Student Success
How to Increase Student Success and Unlock the Door to Purposeful Lifelong Learning

The assessment of prior experiential learning began to go mainstream in the early 1970’s with the creation of CAEL, led by Dr. Morris Keeton. Today, after more than 50 years of collecting information and conducting research on the assessment of prior learning, we know that experiential learning, as well as other learning done outside of academic circles, […]
Student Success
What We Can Do About Community College Enrollment Declines

Quick facts: 11.8% drop in enrollment for public-two year institutions during the pandemic 53% of students are not ready for undergraduate studies after high school 70% of California students fail to graduate or transfer to a four-year college Community colleges have been facing enrollment problems since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic which has only […]
Student Success, Yellowdig
Yellowdig Community Interaction Strategies

Make sure Yellowdig is not a side-show First and foremost, Yellowdig is designed to be an organic and connected learning community which is used as part of a course in tandem with synchronous sessions (if any) and the LMS. It is not meant to be an isolated part of a course and learners should not […]
Product Updates
What's New in Yellowdig Engage This Fall?

As the semester starts to kick off, that means it’s time to dust off the cobwebs and get back into your Yellowdig Communities! If this is your first time back since the spring or even the fall of last year, you will definitely notice a few changes. Below we highlight some of the most notable […]
News
How Education 3.0 Rethinks the Learning Experience

Everyone at the university level felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — from faculty burnout, enrollment dropping, and the sudden chaos of figuring out how to scale online programs to an entire student body with little warning. As students return to in-person classes, the holes in learning models revealed by the pandemic are now […]
News
Education 3.0: Connecting the Learning Experience

In August 2020, I wrote the blog “Is BigTech About to Take Over Higher Education?”. At that time we were in the beginning phases of the COVID pandemic, and the importance of technology in education was becoming more evident as the entire world had moved from in-person to online learning. Since then we have been […]
Instructor Stories
3 Strategies for Instructors to Reduce Grading Time

The education environment constantly changes as learners develop and as we usher in new generations of learners. But with so much constant change, grading remained a stagnant variable in its nature. Despite much rethinking, trials, and tribulations with the grading system, why has it remained unchanged? Traditional grading is easy, convenient, and the norm, so […]
A Student Perspective
Why Most Students Prefer Holistic Learning: Perspectives from Today's Learners

What is Holistic Learning? An unfortunate fault in some modern pedagogy is the disregard for the wants and needs of today’s learners. A proper learning environment should center around both learner and instructor, with both parties working in tandem to create a harmonious experience. One solution is a holistic learning approach, or a “comprehensive approach […]
Yellowdig
6 Ways to Use Online Learning Communities to Improve the Academic Experience

Interactions between students and instructors are an important part of any class. Yellowdig allows for flexible student engagement while growing a community with improved learning outcomes. Traditional discussion boards and other constrained social assignments don’t have the same level of expression, creativity, or active conversation. We have been listening to the feedback from our Instructors […]
Latest at Yellowdig
Student Success
Q&A: Face To face Learning And The Importance of Adding An Asynchronous Element

The COVID-19 pandemic reignited the debate on teaching modalities among teaching faculty, students, and parents around the world. It’s been almost 20 months since the pandemic forced schools and universities to transition to online learning, and each institution has had its fair share of triumphs and setbacks along the way. With an increasing number of […]
Co-Curricular Uses, Instructor Stories, News, Student Success
Online Education Services Finds: Community Building Impacts Student Success and Retention Rates

The Following case study was produced in collaboration with Online Education Services (OES) and explores the benefit of using conversational online learning communities to foster student engagement and increase support for at-risk students. You can also view the case study on their website. Summary: Students observed in this study used Yellowdig Engage to build interpersonal […]
Student Success
How to Improve Student Engagement with Technology in K-12 Education

Technology has greatly revolutionized the world of education, and many developments have been made inside and outside the classroom setting to improve student engagement. During the pandemic, educators and students experienced how important and beneficial it is to incorporate technology in a course curriculum and not just in the ways you’d expect. Technology has become […]
Yellowdig
Team Yellowdig Meets The ASU+GSV Summit 2021

In August 2021, the Yellowdig team had the honor of attending the ASU+GSV Summit event held in San Francisco, California. The Summit started in 2010 in a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and Global Silicon Valley (GSV) to connect leading minds focused in transforming learning and work. The annual convening offers a tangible look […]
Yellowdig
The Role of Faculty Presence in Modern Student Engagement

With the shifting of modalities remaining uncertain in the world of education, the role of faculty presence in classrooms is something we need to talk about. The “traditional” student no longer exists. Modern student engagement is imminent. Instructors should no longer be the “sultan on the stage.” Before we dig into these topics, let’s meet […]
Product Updates
New Feature: Getting Started

We have some amazing updates rolling as the schools begin to come back in session. Changes to Yellowdig’s reminders and notifications can be configurable within your Yellowdig Community and will be released now. At Yellowdig, we value the feedback from our unique instructor and faculty experiences, these updates are coming directly from your feedback, thank […]
Yellowdig
Using Discussion Boards to Increase Student and Class Engagement: Effective? Clichéd? Let’s discuss.

We’ve all heard of discussion boards at this point. It has long been introduced to universities and various K-12 schools for students to access course material, complete assignments, and look at grades. What is a discussion board? It is an online “bulletin board” where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. People […]
Corporate Learning, Instructor Stories
How The University of Delaware Boosted Its Online MBA Ranking by Targeting Student Engagement

We had the pleasure of sitting down (virtually) with Jack Baroudi, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Programs for the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business and Economics. In our conversation he shared the secrets behind the University of Delaware’s 15 spot jump up to 32nd in the US News & World Report Best Online […]
Product Updates, Yellowdig
New Update: Reminders and Notifications!

We have some amazing updates coming up this Summer! Changes to Yellowdig’s reminders and notifications can be configurable within your Yellowdig Community and will be released on June 28th. At Yellowdig, we value the feedback from our unique instructor and faculty experiences, these updates are coming directly from your feedback, thank you! We’re hoping you […]
Yellowdig
The Evolution of Gameful Learning with Yellowdig’s Shaunak Roy and Brian Hurlow

The world of education has come a long way with new methods of teaching and learning arising as years progress. In particular, the increase in different education technologies has had a significant impact in how content is delivered in the classroom. Shaunak Roy, CEO of Yellowdig, and Brian Hurlow, Director of Technology, sat down to […]
Yellowdig
Roles of Hybrid Learning and Blended Learning — What Will and Will Not Work Post-Pandemic

What is Hybrid Learning? Hybrid learning is a unique combination of in-person and online instruction, mixing traditional styles of teaching and learning with online teaching practices. The goal of this type of learning is to provide different techniques of learning to effectively deliver course content and material. Students enrolled in hybrid classes that meet three […]
Instructor Stories
Teaching a Women’s History Course — Thoughts about Yellowdig From a Professor on the Deaf Spectrum

Speakers: Gayle Fischer and Bob Ertischek Building a community for students to learn and listen to each other is an effective approach to teaching. Gayle Fischer, history professor at Salem State University, sat down with Yellowdig in April 2021 to talk about how she uses our virtual classroom platform for her Women’s History Class. Prior […]

See Yellowdig in Action Today

Experience how effortless engagement and real community can transform your classroom or campus. Book your personalized walkthrough—no pressure, just real results.

Get Your Free Demo