How does the Yellowdig point system work?
Different actions and responses to your posted content in Yellowdig can earn you points if points are activated for your class or organization. The Community Owner or Facilitators can configure rules for how you can earn points. Those rules can be seen at any time by clicking on "How Points Work" below the main points display.
The "How Points Work" link will display the Point rules decided upon and set by your instructor. To see your current grade and recent activity, go to My Points on the left-hand navigation.
Your grade in Yellowdig versus your LMS grade
If your instructor has Yellowdig synced with your course gradebook in your LMS (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), it is important to know that the proportion Yellowdig sends to your LMS is your current Yellowdig point total divided by the number of points you would need to earn up to that point in the course to be on pace to reach the 100% participation goal. Since Yellowdig sends a proportion (not a point total) to your LMS, the points in your LMS grade column probably aren't equivalent to the points in the Yellowdig platform. For more on how all this works, see this article. For the math behind your Yellowdig grade, see this article.
Grade passback delay
Please also note that the grade sync for Yellowdig runs on a schedule for each Community. Therefore, points earned in Yellowdig will not immediately be displayed in your LMS gradebook; the points indicated inside the Yellowdig platform will be the most up-to-date and accurate record of your progress toward your participation goal. Depending on the exact timing of your participation and your institution's settings, timezone, etc., it may take as long as 6-12 hours for a grade earned in Yellowdig to appear in the gradebook. As long as the gradebook link was previously established (i.e., after the first week you can see that you have earned some points in your LMS gradebook) and the points appear as expected in the LMS grade section of Yellowdig, please allow some time for your gradebook to update before notifying your instructor or Yellowdig of a problem.
Unfortunately, Yellowdig does not have control over the LMS systems we integrate with or how instructors choose to use them, so there are times that updates or service outages for the LMS, or the setup that the instructor has chosen, will create some unexpected or unusual behavior that may require some attention from your instructor or Yellowdig. Please do know that if there are any issues with the link between Yellowdig and the LMS, any points earned and displayed within Yellowdig's platform are being logged and will be passed to the LMS whenever the link to your LMS is fully established or can be re-established. Therefore, please try not panic if your LMS gradebook does not seem quite right! We also recommend, unless told so by your instructor, that you do NOT stop participating in Yellowdig if you do not see your LMS gradebook working. Rather we would suggest that you continue posting any assigned content. If you are concerned about your LMS grade passback, we would also suggest making a Post on Yellowdig about it to see if other students are experiencing the same issue or if your professor is aware of the issue. The bottom line is that as long as you see that you are earning the expected points in the Yellowdig platform, the LMS grade should automatically be updated in the future. If all else fails, your instructor can manually assign grades in your LMS to match what Yellowdig indicates.
A note about Canvas grade passback
If you are a Canvas user—and you believe that your grade should be, but never has been, passed back for a class—please ensure that you have launched Yellowdig at least once from an assignment link that your instructor will have set up. Every individual learner must launch from an assignment to establish their individual grade passback. If you cannot find the assignment link, ask your fellow students in Yellowdig whether they were able to find it. If they cannot, the instructor may need to set up an assignment. Please just remember that it is possible to log in to a Community for a class before an instructor may be entirely done setting it up, so wait until you receive some instructions from your professor about your Yellowdig participation—or at least until after your first classes to worry about grade passback. As noted above, any points earned in Yellowdig and displayed there will be retained unless your instructor resets the points for everyone in the Community. Remember: your Yellowdig point percentage is authoritative, and Yellowdig will always pass back the up-to-date percentage whenever LMS passback is correctly set up. In other words, you won't "miss out" on points simply because your instructor was delayed in setting up passback.