Though we champion intellectual freedom at Yellowdig and rarely see a need to censor or moderate content, occasionally a student will post off-topic content or content that otherwise tries to "game the system" to earn points. On these occasions, students can report a post, which will automatically notify the Community Owner.

Regardless of whether students report a post, instructors can easily revoke points from a post or from a student's overall point total. However, research on social learning has shown that revoking points can reduce social collaboration and idea sharing, so please use this as a last resort rather than a first response. In general, you can promote good content and appropriate point earning by rewarding good posts with reactions, accolades, and your own congratulatory comments, rather than revoking points for material that is lower quality. Not receiving points from reactions, accolades, or comments is punishment enough (and corrective enough) for a student whose effort has been sub-par.

If a Community Owner or Facilitator does revoke points, we strongly recommend communicating the reason to the learner so they can adjust their behavior.

Who can revoke or give bonus points?

The Community Owner and any Community Facilitator can revoke or give bonus points earned by a Community Member (e.g. student) for a particular post or comment.

Revoking points from a post or comment

1. Hover over the upper-right hand corner of the post or comment.
2. Click the ... icon and select +/- Points.
3. Under "Point Value", enter a negative point value. For example, if comments are worth 20 points, give the student -20 points to fully revoke points from the post, -10 points to partially revoke points from the post, and so on.
   
   • For particularly egregious behavior, you may want deduct more points than what the student originally earned. Instructors can deduct as many points as they want regardless of how many points the original Post or Comment was worth. However, instructors should only do this in very rare cases. Punitive actions can have a chilling effect on the health of your community.
4. In the "Message (optional)" field, explain why you are revoking points. We highly recommend that you explain your reasoning, thereby turning the experience into a teachable moment.
5. Click SUBMIT.

Giving extra point for a post or comment

We generally recommend giving accolades instead of bonus points if the learner is being recognized for producing excellent content. Since accolades are publicly visible, they indicate to other learners which posts are exemplary and provide a model for other students to follow. But in cases where a learner narrowly misses a weekly reset deadline, experiences illness or a family emergency, etc., adding extra points to posts (instead of giving accolades) may be good practice.

1. Hover over the upper-right hand corner of the Post or Comment.
2. Click the ... icon and select +/- Points.
3. Assign a positive point value.
   • Note: When a Community Owner or Facilitator gives bonus points, the recipient will receive the full number of bonus points even if the learner has already reached the point maximum for the week.
4. In the "Message (optional)" field, explain why you are giving bonus points.
5. Click SUBMIT.

Adding or removing points directly from a student's point total

1. In the left-hand navigation, go to Data → Reports.
2. Under the "Points Report" tab, click on the +/- Points button next to the name of the student whose point total you wish to adjust.
3. Follow steps (3)-(5) above.
   • Note: Points added or subtracted from a student's point total are always attributed to the current grading period. 

Who can see that points were revoked?

Other than the Community Owner and Facilitators, only the student whose points were revoked would be notified.