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Yellowdig vs Slack a Guide
As instructors begin to look for technologies that stray away from traditional hierarchical discussion boards, a problem they may come into is making a decision on which to use. Let’s look at Yellowdig and Slack as an example: they are both platforms that provide communication services, but which one is better for the virtual classroom?
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Yellowdig for Virtual Classrooms
Yellowdig’s mission is to enhance the learning experience for students, while also enhancing the teaching experience for professors. This is why the team incorporated a seamless integration with different LMS. Yellowdig also has an automated point tracker that can be used as a participation grade with automatic grade sync. The point system is also backed by research — the system incentivizes students to collaborate with one another, reducing faculty overhead and increasing engagement. Our platform is backed by research for higher education.
Our mission is also to focus on community building. As classrooms began shifting to online learning, we noticed a lack of meaningful relationships between students and instructors. Yellowdig’s platform allows students to get recognition for building community. Data in the platform also shows how well a community and its members are connected.
On Yellowdig, content is also easily accessible for anyone that uses it. Content can be searchable and filterable through different topic tags, so finding questions or answers that were already said is more convenient. There is also an efficient search page that users can utilize.
Slack for Virtual Classrooms
On the other hand, while Slack does solve the problem of communication between peers, it is not backed by research for higher education. It is not possible to integrate with a current LMS, and the platform does not have the ability to track points or grades.
In contrast with Yellowdig, Slack’s platform has a less efficient way of organizing content. Questions, answers, and comments can get lost in the channel, which can result in many repeats. Although there is a search option on the platform, it is not as efficient which can result in more work for the administrator constantly answering the same questions.
Similar to Yellowdig, Slack allows different communities to be made (called channels). Anyone can make these channels, including students, which can boost community engagement. However, there is less of an incentive to do so as the platform does not reward or recognize them for contributing to effective building community and relationships.
