How does Yellowdig work?

Note: For additional information and guidance, visit the Using Yellowdig page of this guide.

Students earn points by posting and interacting with their classmates; the number of points a student earns for any given activity in the community varies by course and is visible within the community.

Students are scored based on their percentage of involvement, which is quantified by the total points earned in the community for the term. Students are required to earn a target number of points by the end of the term that will determine their overall score - but don't worry! A student can view their accumulated points, weekly target, and current grade for Yellowdig at any time within the platform.

You and your students can engage with your course's Yellowdig Community in a variety of ways!

• Post in the community: Posting in the community is important because it helps spark conversation. Visit your Canvas course for specifics regarding potential topics, post requirements (including minimum word counts for earning points), and other potential post content. In addition to any course requirements, students are encouraged to post any questions they have, comments on course content, connections they've made to concepts in previous modules, etc. As the instructor, you can comment and post to prompt additional conversation
• Comment or react to Posts: You can contribute to a student's point earnings by commenting or reacting to their Posts; if you wish to remove points and still comment on a post to provide feedback or prompt with a question, you can manually deduct the additional points added from your comment. The more people that interact with a post or comment, the more points the poster earns. As students interact with others, everyone in the course has the potential to earn more and more points!
• Reward Students with Accolades: An accolade can be awarded by the instructor for exemplary Posts and Comments. The number of points you earn from any Accolade varies by course.

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How is Yellowdig different from Canvas Discussions?

Currently, a majority of ERAU-Worldwide courses utilize Canvas Discussions for each module. However, faculty and students have both expressed the desire to have a discussion tool that is more engaging and eliminates the 'busy work' of current Canvas Discussion. As a result, select courses are using Yellowdig to innovate course discussions.

Using Yellowdig includes the following opportunities:

• Scoring: Students accumulate points throughout the term, with mini-goals set each week. Points accumulate throughout the term and students are only assigned a grade at the end of the term. The system automatically assigns points, but the instructor can override the scoring system at any time.
• Feedback & Accolades: You can contribute to a student's point earnings by commenting or reacting to their Posts; if you wish to remove points and still comment on a post to provide feedback or prompt with a question, you can manually deduct the additional points added from your comment. The more people that interact with a post or comment, the more points the poster earns. As students interact with others, everyone in the course has the potential to earn more and more points!
• Reimagine Discussion Topics: Topics are fluid! Students can interact with posts, comments, polls, etc. across multiple modules, facilitating meaningful discussion that connects module topics on a deeper level. Visit the Yellowdig Proven Practices page to learn more about Yellowdig's pedagogy research.
• Community Health Dashboard: Instructors have access to the Community Health Dashboard, which includes a Network graph and other raw data to monitor the wellbeing of the community and student engagement. Visit the Using Yellowdig page for more information regarding reporting and data in Yellowdig.