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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
Instructor Stories
5 Spooky Online Teaching Mistakes to Avoid

As Halloween rolls around the corner, we wanted to help you to save the spooking for the holiday by keeping it out of your classroom. We have compiled 5 common mistakes instructors make while running an online class to keep you from falling victims to these easy tricks. Read to the bottom and you may […]
Product Updates
This Fall Brings Large Point System and Grade Passback Improvements

Recent Improvements to Our Points System Feedback we have heard made it clear that there was potential confusion around two aspects of our points system: 1. Points fill one big bucket for the semester 2. There is a buffer that allows users to earn points beyond their current week’s requirement to get ahead This October […]
Product Updates
Yellowdig’s Patented Gamification Approach Improves Student Outcomes

Gamification is a bit of a buzzword in education these days. We can debate the educational value of all the digital games out there, but no one can dismiss the impact (good or bad) of gaming on the formative minds of future generations. I believe game-based learning, when designed with the right motives in mind, […]
Co-Curricular Uses, Instructor Stories
Enhance Your New Student Orientation with Yellowdig

Orientation is a make-or-break experience for incoming students. COVID-19 has left many universities to reinvent different elements of the student lifecycle, and orientation is no exception. At University of Nebraska-Lincoln, orientation leaders were halfway through training when the pandemic hit. Their in-person event was all about community building and making connections to help the new […]
Instructor Stories, Student Success
Improving Course Success and Retention with Yellowdig

Think back to when the world was in the early stages of COVID-19— it was predicted that the virus would have such massive impact. Universities were caught totally unprepared. Instead of having a plan in place, they were forced to scramble and cobble together different programs overnight to try and keep class in session. Change […]
News
Online Ed Demand Boom Leads Robin Hood Ventures to Invest in Yellowdig

(Philadelphia, August 24, 2020) – Yellowdig is excited to announce that it has attracted investment from angel-investment group Robin Hood Ventures (RHV). Yellowdig is a community-building platform that enables a learning institution’s entire ecosystem—from students and faculty to administrators and alumni—to connect, learn, and engage. Built from the ground up, the platform empowers lifelong learning […]
Product Updates
Yellowdig Engage Product Release 8/17

Features New capability to paste a community template link into the community creation form to import settings and content New network graph data visualization page (BETA). Reach out to [email protected] if you’d like to try this feature New and improved post interface style, which visually nests comments underneath posts and displays a stronger separation between […]
Yellowdig
Is BigTech About to Take Over Higher Education?

Whether you are a student, faculty member, or parent, the future of higher education is uncertain. The entire college experience has been condensed into a series of web conferences and online assignments. It is convenient to be able to join a live classroom with a few clicks, or watch recorded sessions later, but what is […]
Co-Curricular Uses, Student Success
What Makes Yellowdig More Engaging Than Your LMS Discussion?

“I found that the Yellowdig discussions were far more personable than any other LMS discussion boards I have partaken in. The flexibility of content and responses made it more engaging and exciting… I definitely found that people were more active and excited about posting and responding to others’ posts. Previous blackboard discussions have felt somewhat […]
Product Updates
Yellowdig Engage Product Update 7/13

Features Notifications and settings for direct messages. Support for all global timezones. Accessibility improvements for direct messages. Network/Community Report improvements. Bug Fixes Added special handling for Safari version > 13 to circumvent new iFrame and cookie restrictions imposed by Apple. (Requires opening Yellowdig in new tab when using Safari.) Fixed a bug related to pinned […]
Product Updates
Yellowdig Engage Product Update 6/29

Features Detailed community- and student-level CSV reports can now be downloaded on demand from /organization/admin/reports and /community/[community id]/reports. Redesigned Periods view in Point Setup Wizard. Reduced payload when groups are enabled. Introduced basic SSO (beta). Bug Fixes Copy Content From dropdown component in LTI board creation modal no longer returns error when list is empty. […]
Product Updates
Yellowdig Engage Product Update 6/2

Multimedia posting and commenting: Updated mobile/tablet layout New user creation flow for those logging into Yellowdig from their LMS for the first time. Email verification flow for users with multiple LMS accounts. (Security measure.) Bug Fixes Fix for certain timeout requests Better handling of unfurled links Questions? Reach out to us at [email protected]. Brian Hurlow […]
Latest at Yellowdig
Co-Curricular Uses
Education 3.0: The University of the Future is Now

Just what is Education 3.0 ? As a complete vision, Education 3.0 includes a virtual campus community network that delivers greater engagement, deeper and more reflective learning, higher persistence and completion rates, greater faculty satisfaction and effectiveness, and cradle-to-grave support services for all involved. Today, happily, we have the technological tools and the knowledge to […]
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, […]
Case Study
Engagement of students in online learning

In summary The implementation of an integrated and standardised data eco-system, including incorporating data from student engagement platforms such as Yellowdig, supports critical student success initiatives by breaking down data silos. Students observed in this study used Yellowdig Engage to build interpersonal connections that eased their anxieties around their studies, created a sense of community, […]
Case Study
Using Remote Learning to Create Learner-Centered Classroom

Interview with A. McKinzie Sutter The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Agronomy and Horticulture Distance Education Specialist One word of advice from McKinzie to fellow Yellowdig instructors:   Make Yellowdig a learner-centered classroom. Let the students learn from each other and discuss topics from the course that they’re interested in. The teacher serves as the […]
Case Study
Dr. Lawrence Duke & Dr. Jesse Ballenger

Online Classroom Format That Leads to Student Success and Satisfaction Case Study with Professor Lawrence Duke Drexel University LeBow College of Business Marketing Department Clinical Professor & Faculty Advisor for the MS Marketing program What follows is an excerpt of Professor Duke’s full case study Professor Duke on how often he reads his Yellowdig feed: […]
Case Study, Webinar
Increasing engagement & retention

Case Study with one of the Nation’s Largest Online Degree Providers How Yellowdig powered a leading national online university to increase learner engagement and retention in just one semester Program outcomes show secondary potential benefits including less instructor admin time spent, lower enrollment costs. ​ Challenge: How does one of the top online degree providers […]
Case Study
Study across 4 Marketing Classes

Higher Student Engagement on Yellowdig Leads to Better Grades Fort Hays State University Deems Social Learning Platform, Yellowdig, a ‘Powerful’ Addition to Marketing Courses Comprehensive Research Study Dr. Andrew Feldstein, Dr. Mary C. Martin, and Dr. Michael J. Martin of Fort Hays State University participated in a pilot program where Yellowdig, a social learning platform, was […]
Case Study
New Explorations in Teaching with Technology

How to Keep Student Engagement High on an Infrequent Class Schedule 2018 NEXT Conference: New Explorations in Teaching with Technology Transcribed from a presentation by Claudia J. Coleman, PhDin February 2018, at the NEXT Conference “So, why are segues and icebreakers important? Well, they may not be unless you care about building stronger relationships with […]
Case Study
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Interview with Professor Nicholas Duran Arizona State University School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Assistant Professor Listen to the podcast One piece of advice from Professor Duran to fellow Yellowdig instructors: “In large online courses, I really emphasize Yellowdig participation as it’s the only way students can really get to know and interact with each […]

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