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Telling Your Students About Yellowdig

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Brian Verdine
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Use these scripts to introduce Yellowdig to your students. Note that all the red text needs to be changed to your specifications and that there may be good reasons to pick and choose pieces from any of the samples.

These template assume that you have all of the point categories turned on and have awarded points for both reactions and comments on posts, which are highly recommended. Assuming you have not done so, you will need to edit the template accordingly.

If you need any help in thinking about how to introduce Yellowdig or instruct your students in using it, please reach out at clientsuccess@yellowdig.com. 

Introducing Yellowdig

It's my pleasure to welcome you to Yellowdig, your online discussion platform for the duration of our course.

Unlike typical [your LMS] discussions where all of you would respond to the same prompt, Yellowdig lets you find and share real-world content (articles, videos, etc.) that YOU feel is relevant to lectures and readings. As you create posts and make comments, and as other students react to or comment on your posts, you will automatically receive participation points. Just to be clear, using Yellowdig is a required part of the course, and the points you acquire will account for 20% of your course grade.

The points you earn in Yellowdig are passed to the [your LMS] grade book for your discussion credit. To learn more about how points work, see this help article along with the How to Earn Points link inside Yellowdig.

To earn the 1000 points required for an "A" in Yellowdig by the end of the course, you will need to earn 100 points per week on average over the next 10 weeks. This Community has a point buffer of 30%, meaning you can earn up to 130 points per week. That means that, if you always participate up to the weekly maximum, you can reach the 1000 point participation target in as little as 8 weeks.

At 9:00 PM every Friday, the weekly maximum points will reset and you will again have until the following Friday to get up to the weekly maximum. If you are having a fun discussion, you can always keep posting even after you have reached the weekly maximum; you just will stop earning additional credit toward your grade until the next Friday at 9:00 PM.

This week, I'd like you all to get used to using Yellowdig by following my example and introducing yourselves. Please use the "Introduce Yourself" Topic and share a bit about who you are and what you are hoping to get out of taking this class. If you click on the "Introduce Yourself" Topic on the right or search for my name, you should be able to find my introduction and some ideas about things to post. Don't forget to share pictures, videos, or interesting links about you and your accomplishments!

A few additional recommendations:

I’ll be talking more about this in class on Monday, but if you have questions about how this is going to work, you can comment on this post!

 

-----Addendum for Student-Payment Communities-----

For communities that are student-paid, we recommend adding this additional piece here to explain the cost and why you think this is a worthwhile investment:

You will be asked to pay a small fee for Yellowdig unless you have reason for an exemption. Unlike an expensive textbook or homework tool, I believe this will be an exciting tool you will want to use and that there will be a lot to gain from using it, especially if we take full advantage of it together. [Insert personal anecdotes that are specific to you and your course here.] No matter how hard we try in other aspects of the course, I know many of you have questions that may go unanswered, insights that go left unsaid, or important things you’d like to talk out with other people without resorting to public social media. It may be nice to know that one reason there is a cost to a Yellowdig license is because they will not advertise to you or sell your data.

I do understand that this cost could be a burden and I do not want that to block access to these benefits, so if you are someone who is experiencing a financial hardship or are unable to purchase Yellowdig for our class, please reach out to me via email and I will do my best to accommodate you. 

What should I do in Yellowdig?

I really want you to read what other people are thinking and to have real discussions about course-relevant content. Therefore, I’d like everyone to pay attention to the fact that you will earn quite a few points when other people react to your Posts and Comments. Your Posts will also get more points if they get a good conversation started (i.e., if people comment on them). So think about your audience when you are posting (i.e., your fellow classmates). Also, be sure to recognize good posts by reacting to them and talking about them.

It is also helpful to realize that you can’t get points from people interacting with your posts if you don’t have posts up for other students to see. Therefore, coming in earlier and getting good conversations started can actually save you work. I (or the TA) will also be dropping in occasionally to give Accolades to Posts that are exceptionally thoughtful. You’ll increase your odds of your posts receiving that recognition if you have them up and I can see you are contributing to a vibrant discussion. 

Our Community will thrive when we treat each other with respect and sensitivity. We will be adopting Yellowdig's code of conduct for this course. I also remind you of our institution's policies around student conduct:[Link to or list additional ground rules]

A few additional recommendations:

-----Student-Payment Communities Only-----

For clarity on student-pay courses, it may be helpful to also include more information that explains how payment is processed. We would recommend the following:

You will be asked to pay for Yellowdig for this course. The following information may be helpful:

  • Cost: $xx.xx.
  • How to Pay: 
    • When you access your course in [your LMS] for the first time, you will see a link to Yellowdig within the course navigation.
    • Upon launching the tool for the first time, you will see a payment window asking for credit card information which will be collected through a reputable online payment site called Stripe.
    • After processing payment, you will be given unlimited access to Yellowdig for our course for the duration of the academic term.
  • If you have questions/issues while making your payment, please reach out to Yellowdig Support at this link or by emailing support@yellowdig.com.
  • If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to purchase access to Yellowdig for our course, please reach out to me via email and I will do my best to accommodate you. 

Syllabus Template

Yellowdig is an online conversation platform for [your course]. You receive points for participating in Yellowdig conversations, and the points you receive in Yellowdig factor into your final grade. Each week, you can earn up to [periodic max] points. To get an "A" in Yellowdig, you must have at least [100% participation target] points by the end of the course. If you reach the weekly max by the end of each week, you are guaranteed to get an "A" in Yellowdig.

The grading period for Yellowdig will begin on [starting date] and end on [ending date]. Your Yellowdig grade is worth x% of your final grade.

You receive points for interacting and engaging with your peers in the following ways:

  • Writing a Post of at least n words (x points)
  • Writing a Comment of at least n words (x points)
  • Receiving a Comment on your Post (x points)
  • Receiving an Accolade on your Post or Comment:
    • [Accolade 1]: x points
    • [Accolade 2]: x points
    • ...
    • [Accolade n]: x points
  • Receiving a Reaction on your Post or Comment:
    • [Emoji 1]: x points
    • [Emoji 2]: x points
    • ...
    • [Emoji n]: x points

You are encouraged to reward your peers for producing excellent content by commenting on and reacting to their Posts. In addition, I will reward particularly exemplary Posts and Comments by giving Accolades. To earn as many points as possible, you are strongly encouraged to contribute to our Yellowdig Community early and often. Just keep in mind that, once you reach the weekly max, you cannot earn additional points until the weekly reset deadline ([deadline day and time]).

Yellowdig passes back your Yellowdig grade to [your LMS] as a proportion that represents your current pace toward getting an "A" in Yellowdig. Therefore, the points you see in Yellowdig might not match the points you see in [your LMS]. If any of this confuses you, just remember: if you end every week with a Yellowdig grade of 100%, you are guaranteed to get an "A" in Yellowdig.

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