Easy for students of all ages to use....

Using a traditional discussion board in an online platform can lead to very dull discussions. The model for traditional boards is to have students post a response to the discussion prompt and then respond to two students. It lacks opportunities for genuine discussion and community building. This is where Yellowdig shines. The focus is on providing opportunities for community and conversation. Students take ownership of their board and can explore various concepts. As a result of this student-led focus on learning, it lends itself to a more exciting discussion. Students can also create videos, use polls, draw pictures, etc., and have fun with learning. Overall, what I like best about Yellowdig is its opportunity for community and conversation, which is hard to establish with a traditional discussion board.

Yellowdig has had a major impact on my climate change course. The course has over 400 students and I was looking for a platform to host a discussion board beyond what can be done in my course management system. Yellowdig has far exceeded my expectations for such a platform. For both students and professor, the interface is super user friendly and intuitive. This makes for a very fast learning curve for students, and I get very few questions about how the platform works. Posting, commenting on a post, and using emojis is seamless and from a professor’s point of view, it is super easy to screen, search for and filter posts and to track student performance. In addition, the bonus system whereby students can get extra credit for being especially active in a week, makes the professors life easier as there is no need for extensions for individual students. Accolades from the professor are crucial for students to learn what is valued and provides gentle peer pressure, improving the quality of posts. Students often comment in their reviews on how much they like the platform and how it one of their favorite parts of the class. Overall, Yellowdig effectively builds a community of learners and has become a critical part of my climate change course.