Learn with Me Experiment #learnwme - Feb4'13

As you're reading this, I'm probably either in the Caribbean Sea or lying on a beach.

Every Monday night at 8pm EST, I host my Learn with Me chat. Tonight that will prove rather challenging and I've yet to secure a co-moderator for such nights like tonight, but I don't want to cancel.

So, I've opted for an experiment that I hope some of you are willing to try. Through HootSuite's publisher feature, I have pre-scheduled tweets to go out between 8-9pm tonight -February 4, 2-13- and as part case study and part experiment, I'm curious to see what comes of it.

My commitment to you, if you choose to engage, is to make it meaningful, thought-provoking and fun! So please take part and let me know how it goes and what you think of the chat. And thank you.

Use the hashtag #learnwme and I recommend TweetChat.com to make it all easier and smoother. Cheers!

Effective Questions - #learnwme Chat Expansion

Not all blog posts need to be typed out, right? Have a listen to my expansion of the most recent Learn with Me chat -#learnwme- that happened Monday, January 28, 2013, with a focus on Effective Questions: Deep Learning and Personal Accountability.


The visuals that were used for the chat are below and can be viewed while listening to my audio excerpt, and the articles that are the basis for the drawings are hyperlinked above. Please let me know what your thoughts are on the topics, this post and my approach. Thanks!

(Special Thanks to Julie Schell and John G. Miller for their help and inspiration!)


Stay tuned for upcoming #learnwme Twitter chats that will be co-hosted and visual! Brandy Agerbeck and I will look at Graphic Facilitation! TBA

Judy Lee and I will look at Leadership Development and Emotional Intelligence! March 4, 2013.

Learn with Me Chat #learnwme - Effective Questions - January 28, 2013

Lately, much of my conversation with a good friend and some colleagues has centred around the issue of effective questions. The two main sources that have triggered my exploration of proper questions and the act of proper questioning have been Julie Schell's, "How to Write Effective Questions to Evaluate Deep Learning", and John G. Miller's book, "QBQ! The Question Behind the Question".

Therefore, I've decided that tonight's Learn with Me chat will focus on effective questions and how they relate both to learning and to our own daily lives. I believe that Julie's wonderful focus on evaluating deep learning will connect well into John's thoughts on questions that facilitate personal accountability.

Join us tonight at 8pm EST for an engaging, fun and interactive Learn with Me Twitter chat that as always, will include visuals to deepen the experience. Use the #learnwme hashtag and TwitterChat.com and we'll see you tonight!

Update: Here is the Storify link of the transcript with the sketches I created to visual the concepts we touched on. Enjoy!

What I'm reading - January 2013

As a lifelong learner, I'm reading books, articles and blog posts constantly throughout the day, almost every day. I love to learn more, be challenged and have my mind stretched and strengthened.

The great thing about being Social online is that you can discuss, debate and share what you learn and discover with other bright minds from any geographic location. I'm currently in the planning stages of some fun and meaningful collaboration with a few great people I have met via Twitter and LinkedIn.

I'd like to share with you the books I'm digging into on a monthly basis. Hopefully, some of you may have already read what I'm discovering and some others will want to do the same. I would love to have discussions with any of you about what I post here and what I'm reading, so please don't hesitate to contact me.

As an extension of this, it would be amazing to create an informal, social, online book club around the titles I aim to read this year. If that sounds like something you're interested in, let me know and we can get the ball rolling. (Marc Binkley has created an amazing group of like-minded individuals to learn with together on Google Plus.) I believe that discussing and furthering your thoughts on a book rather than just shelving it after, helps you to process and remember the ideas better. And hey, it helps deepen relationships which is always good.

Speaking of relationships, Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi, is a book I am really enjoying currently. It's practical, insightful and spot-on with it's focus on networking and how it can enhance your professional and private lives. I was one of those people who shuddered at the sound of the word, 'networking', in the past. It invoked images of business card wielding, overbearing suit and tie executives who were more concerned about 'What's in it for me?', than how they could contribute to the path of others.

My approach to the Social Media universe -and hopefully life in general- is to make everything a two-way street. To incorporate the 'pay it forward' mentality to as much of daily life as I can. And to be generous. These concepts are what networking is about, as Ferrazzi points out. If your focus is only on your benefits and what others can do for you, then you better quit now.

So far, I'm folding down the corners of quite a number of pages I want to go back to (yes, it's an actual physical book, not on my Kindle). Never Eat Alone is full of great practical advice and successful examples from his own life. I also think the Networking Action Plan he asks you to commit to in the beginning of the book is a wonderful way to help gain focus and plan accordingly so that you succeed rather than flounder.

Thanks to someone posting a picture on Twitter a while ago, I came across The Sketchnote Handbook, by Mike Rohde. Now, for someone visual like me and with a background in the arts, this is pretty much a must-have IMHO. 

Brilliantly looking more like Mike's sketchbook than a 'real book', you learn how to focus on the 'big ideas, using a mix of words, drawings, and type' so that your notes at meetings, conferences and other events become more visual and fun. How cool is that? Check this excerpt:

As you may have noticed, I'm trying to steer away from less text and more images in my work, planning and instruction, so I think what Mike has created here -along with his videos and podcast work- is wonderful and needed. Similar to Dan Roam's approach, whom I'm also finding inspiration from these days, The Sketchnote Handbook will engage more of your brain and help you to integrate concepts and ways of thinking more successfully into your everyday. I say go for it! Grab your pencils and start drawing!

Please let me know what you're reading and/or suggest, and if you'd like to join me on my exciting learning journey. Cheers!

#learnwme chat - January 14, 2013: What Do I Tweet?

If I had to state which question I get the most from people when talking about Twitter, it would be, 'What do I tweet?' Many are willing to jump into the Twitterverse, but once they do, they have no idea what content or message they should be sending out in 140 characters or less.

Tonight's Learn with Me Twitter chat will focus on this issue, so please join us for a fun conversation about what to tweet!

Our focus will be the following:

1 - What should you tweet about?
2 - What should you NOT be tweeting?
3 - What should you do on Twitter besides tweet?

See you tonight at 8pm EST, using the hashtag #learnwme ! Cheers!

Update: Here's the Storify link for this chat for your reference. Thanks. -Jamie