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

Whether students call attention to it or not, for any posted content, instructors can easily revoke points earned by learners. 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. If a Community Owner or Facilitator does revoke points, we typically 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.

How can I revoke points?

1. Hover over the upper-right hand corner of the Post or Comment.
2. Click the ... icon and select "Give Bonus Points".
3. Assign a negative point value equal to the amount of points the student originally earned from the Post or Comment. For example, if Comments are worth 20 points, give the student -20 bonus points.
   • For Posts that are merely inadequate or only partially irrelevant, you may want to give partial credit. In that case, you can deduct less than the amount of points the student originally earned for the Post or Comment. For example, if Posts are worth 40 points, and you want a student to get 50% credit for his or her Post, you can give the student -20 bonus points.
   • 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. To actively punish students for contributing to the Community is, to say the least, discouraging.
4. In the "Message (optional)" field, explain why you are revoking points. We highly recommend that you do this; it's good pedagogical practice, and it will improve the student's contributions moving forward.

Who can see that points were revoked?

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

How can I add points?

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 "Give Bonus 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.