Yammer: Instructor Guide

The Yammer Student Guide is now embedded in course sites in

Learning@Griffith.
To view this guide outside of Blackboard, ​see screenshots in this Google Doc​.

Instructor Guide - Table of Contents

Tip: Shortcut keys to copy and paste
Why courses use Yammer ‘networks’ rather than ‘groups’?
Why it is important to distinguish between “Networks” and “Groups”
Create an external network
Invite members
Privacy
Invite students to join Yammer networks using email addresses from the Faculty
Centre
Important!
Don’t use the sNumber email address!
Invite other members
Send a Learning@Griffith Announcement
Add a Quick Link into your Course Site
Network Admin
Customise your network
Assign Admin Roles
Delete networks
Remove members
Embed the feed in L@G
Creating the embedded feed
Updating the feed
Can’t see the feed?
Top 5 Yammer survival tips
Managing the “You have new external members to approve on Yammer” messages
Make your students aware of this
Use groups to organise discussion within the network
Polls
Understanding Participation
Be present
Allow community to form
Build shared knowledge
Levels of participation
‘Old’ networks
Learn more about using Yammer for learning and teaching
Acknowledgements
Tip: Shortcut keys to copy and paste 
In this guide there will be steps which include copying and pasting email
addresses. The best way to do this is to use shortcut keys:

● Copy:
○ Windows - Control+C
○ Mac - Command-C
● Paste​:
○ Windows - Control+V
○ Mac - Command-V

   
Why courses use Yammer ‘networks’ rather 
than ‘groups’? 
Griffith University has a ​“Home” Yammer network​. This network includes many
groups - some open to all members of the ‘Home’ network, and some private
(e.g. work groups). Groups cannot include sub-groups.

For courses ​we create external networks ​rather than groups. These external
networks are associated with the Home network, but are independent. The main
reason we use networks is to allow the flexibility to include groups within the
network.

“Networks” v “Groups”

Students now have access to the Griffith "All

company" Yammer network, and sometimes
they become lost there looking for their "course
group".

To help students learn the distinction between

Yammer "networks" and "groups", it is important
that we get into the habit of saying ​"the course
Yammer network"​.

This screenshot shows our Griffith All Company network, and you can see how
we find "groups" in the left hand menu, and we find "networks" by clicking on
the cog wheel icon (“Setting and more” menu).
Create an external network
1. Make sure you are in the ​griffith.edu.au network

2. Select the ​Setting and more​ menu (the cog

wheel icon near the top of the left hand menu,
or near the bottom left corner)

3. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and select

Create a New Network

4. Enter a Network Name following this example - ​1234GBS TP2 2016

(that is, course code, teaching period and year)

5. Set the Permissions to ​Closed

6. Click ​Create Network

Invite members 
It is important that the teaching team member with the most presence in
Yammer sends the invitations.

Why? Students automatically ‘follow’ the person who invites them.

When a student accepts an invitation, they automatically ‘Follow’ the person

who send the invitation. If the convenor sends the invitation it will mean the
student will receive automatic notifications when the convenor posts or
comments.
See instructions on the next page

Privacy

Students might express concerns regarding their personal privacy when using
tools such as Yammer, or indeed any tool where their name is visible to others.
This might be true for victims of domestic violence, for instance.

If students contact you asking how their privacy can be protected using
Yammer, let them know that they can edit their name in their profile, perhaps
using just an initial for their last name.

More information on student privacy is available in the University’s document,

Protecting Student Privacy (pdf)​.

Students concerned about their email address being visible to others can
consider requesting invitations be sent to an alternative email address, or they
can update their preferred name with Griffith University. This generates a new
email account. Information is available on the ​Account Identity​ page.
Invite students to join Yammer networks using email
addresses from the Faculty Centre

Important!
● Only the primary Convenor has access to the Faculty Centre
● It is important that the teaching team member with the most presence in
Yammer sends the invitations. Why? Students automatically ‘follow’ the
person who invites them.

Don’t use the sNumber email address!

● Do not use the old method of inviting students using their sNumber email
address.
● Changes to students’ Office 365 account mean that this email address will
not allow them to log in.

1. Go to the ​Faculty Centre​ (​Staff Portal​ > Applications >

Faculty Centre)

2. Go to ​Class Roster​ to open the list of students for the

course

3. Click ​Notify all students​ at the bottom of the list

4. This generates a message which includes all email addresses separated by
commas

5. Select around 20 email addresses at a time​ (Yammer does not cope

with long lists)

6. Use “Cut” rather than copy (Cntrl+X | Command-X) to easily see the
remaining email addresses

7. In the course Yammer

network:

a. Click the ​Setting

and more ​menu
(cog wheel)

b. Click ​Invite

8. Paste (Cntrl+V | Command-V) the email

addresses ensuring that there is a comma
between each one, and click ​Add
Invite other members

Ensure that you invite others to the Yammer network including:

● Other members of the teaching team

● Blended Learning Advisor
● Griffith Online team member if relevant
● Accelerated Online courses only - invite Student Support Online -
StudentSupport.Online@Griffith.edu.au

Send a Learning@Griffith Announcement 

Once you have sent invitations to students, advise students via a
Learning@Griffith Announcement. This will prompt students to accept the
invitation, and to join the Yammer conversation. Any students who do not
receive an invitation can also contact you to request one.

You might find ​this template for an announcement​ useful.

   
Add a Quick Link into your Course Site 
1. In Learning @Griffith, open the page
where you want to add the link to
Yammer (usually we have a link labelled
“Yammer” in the course menu)

2. Near the top left of the screen hover over

or click ​Build Content

3. Click ​Web Link

4. Name the link “Quick Link: Course

Yammer Network”

5. Copy the address for the network

from your browser into the URL
field

6. Leave the default setting so the link will open in a new window

7. If you haven’t sent enrolments yet, make the

item unavailable by checking ​No​ for the field,
Permit Users to View this Content

8. Remember to then come back and make the link

available once you have sent invitations.

   
Network Admin 
You can customise network appearance, manage users,
assign admin roles, and access analytics via Network
Admin.

1. Open the ​Setting and more​ menu (cog wheel)

2. Choose ​Network Admin

Customise your network

1. Go to ​Network Admin

2. Choose ​Design ​from the menu

3. You can select colours and upload a logo

Assign Admin Roles

Network Admins ideally include all teaching staff and
the relevant Blended Learning Advisor. Your Admin
people must already be members of the network​.

1. Go to the ​Setting and More​ menu (via the cog

wheel icon)

2. Select ​Network Admin

3. Select ​Admins ​from the menu

Delete networks
● See also ​“Old” Networks​ on archiving networks

You might want to delete a network, particularly if a network you have given it
an incorrect title, or it is a duplicate.
Remember - this cannot be undone, so if in doubt, leave the old network in
place.

1. Click ​Setting and more​ (Cog wheel)

2. Click N​ etwork Admin

3. Click ​Configuration​ in the settings panel

4. Scroll and click the link ​Delete

External Network

5. Click ​Delete
Remove members

You might need to remove students who have left your course from the
Yammer network.

This cannot be undone, although you can invite the person to rejoin the
network.

1. Click ​Setting and more​ (cog

wheel)
2. Click ​Network Admin

3. Click ​Remove Users ​in the settings panel

4. Type the person’s name into the field and select them from suggestions
5. Select the option to either retain or remove their messages
6. Click ​Submit

   
Embed the feed in L@G 
You can embed the Yammer feed into
your L@G course site, strengthening
the connection for students between
Yammer and the course content.

Below are instructions on:

● Creating the embedded feed
● Updating the item with the feed

Creating the embedded feed

1. Create or edit an item in L@G

2. Click ​HTML​ button in the editor

3. Open this ​text file with the HTML code​ in Notepad (NOT Word)

4. Open the course Yammer network in your browser, and copy the portion
of the address between yammer.com/ and the next /

5. In ​Notepad​, paste the portion of the address that you just copied into
the file, replacing the text between the quotation marks that follow
network:

6. Select all text in the Notepad file and copy

7. Paste the text into the HTML window in L@G

8. Click ​Update

9. Click ​Submit
Updating the feed

1. Open the course Yammer network in your browser, and copy the portion
of the address between ​yammer.com/​ and the next ​/

2. In the course site, locate the item with the feed

3. Click the grey chevron to open the menu
4. Select ​Edit
5. Click the HTML button

6. Locate the text following ​network:

7. Replace the text between the quotation marks with the address text that
you copied

Can’t see the feed?

It’s all about ‘cookies’.

• If you can’t see the feed, it is likely that your “Third Party Cookies’ is turned
off in your browser

Solution:
• Run an internet search on how to ‘enable third party cookies’, including the
name of your browser

Why aren’t we telling you how?

• There are many different browsers, and they are regularly updated, so the
best way to see the current solution is to conduct a search.
Top 5 Yammer survival tips 
Yammer can be a busy place. These ​Top 5 Yammer Survival Tips​ will help you
survive and even enjoy the experience!

Managing the “You have new external 

members to approve on Yammer” messages 
If a person is not logged into Yammer and they click the Yammer network link,
they will see a home screen. As the below screenshot shows, the Log In link is
inconspicuous, whereas the Sign Up link shouts for attention.

What this means is that people will often enter their email address in the Sign
Up field, which automatically triggers a message to Network Admins, “You have
new external members to approve on Yammer”.

Make your students aware of this

It will reduce the number of these automatic messages you receive if you make
your students aware of this issue. A ​template for making a Learning@Griffith
Announcement​ is available for you to send to students, encouraging them to
ignore the prominent ​Sign up​ link, and use the less obvious ​Log In​ link.
Use groups to organise discussion within the 
network 
Under construction

   
Polls 
Polls are a great way of encouraging
participation in Yammer.

1. Click ​Poll​ just above the status

field

2. Add your questions and options

for answers, and ​Post

   
Understanding Participation 
Be present

Allow community to form

Build shared knowledge

“Construction of meaning may result from individual critical reflection but

ideas are generated and knowledge constructed through the collaborative
and confirmatory process of ​sustained dialogue within a critical
community of learners​.”

Garrison, D.R., & Archer, W. (2000).​ A transactional perspective on teaching-learning: A

framework for adult and higher education​. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.

Levels of participation

Not all participation in online

communities is visible, so be aware that
some students will pop into Yammer but
not leave ‘footprints’.

Invisible participation in communities of

practice is often called, ‘lurking’.
Etienne Wenger, a leader in research
into communities of practice, reframed
this participation more positively, calling
it ​Legitimate Peripheral Participation​.

You can encourage visible participation by using polls, sparking discussions, and
modelling use of the ‘like’ button.

‘Old’ networks 
Best practice is to:

● Leave the old network open

● Add ARCHIVED to the title of the network (see ​Network Admin​ for how)
Learn more about using Yammer for learning 
and teaching 
Join this Yammer group​ to discuss with your Griffith colleagues about how to
use Yammer to maximise learning and teaching experiences.

Acknowledgements 
• Screenshots have all been created by the author

• The Yammer logo is in the public domain and was accessed via ​Wikimedia
Commons

• Unless otherwise stated, images are purchased stock from Shutterstock

• This resource has been developed by Griffith Online, Griffith University