Accolades can be given by Community Owners and Facilitators for any Post or Comment on a Yellowdig Community. Typically these will be used to acknowledge and reward particularly insightful or conversation-generating Posts or Comments. We recommend instructors use them as a way to give their learners a quick "good job" (and a point bonus!). This feedback on posts can be really powerful as a way to reward good discussion and drive better engagement. (Note: When a Community Owner or Facilitator gives a learner an Accolade, that learner will receive the full number of points for that Accolade even if the learner has already reached the point maximum for the week.) 

Creating an Accolade:

1. Click Settings in the left-hand menu.
2. Under Settings, click Accolades.
3. Click the CREATE NEW ACCOLADE button.
4. Create a custom name for the new Accolade in the "Accolade Name" field.
5. Assign a color under "Accolade Color".
6. Assign a point value in the "Accolade Point Value" field.
7. Select an icon for your custom Accolade under "Accolade Inner Icon".

Giving an Accolade:

1. In your Feed, hover over the upper right-hand corner of the Post you want to reward.
2. Click the ... symbol, then select "Add Accolades" in the drop-down. (Note: this option will appear only if you have created at least one Accolade.)
3. Click on the Accolade you want to assign to the Post.
4. To assign multiple Accolades to the same Post, repeat the process for another Accolade.

Every Member of the Community will be able to see that the Accolade has been given, which gives them a model of the kind of content that an instructor wants to see.

Because of the recognition and the point bonus conferred by instructors who use Accolades, we find that the Accolades help motivate all users to paste higher quality content that is contributing to the kind of discussion that instructors want to see. Awarding excellent posts definitely helps make Yellowdig a more valuable experience for the entire learning community.