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!

#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

Twitter Chats - Guest Post by Nadia M. Ollivierre

Part of my participation in the Twitter backchannel at the CSTD2012 conference included meeting new people. Although Nadia M. Ollivierre and I didn't have the chance to meet in person at conference, we've connected on Twitter and through this relationship we have helped each other learn, discussed meaningful L&D topics and encouraged each other to go forward professionally. 

Her enthusiasm to dive right in to Social Media, and Twitter especially, prompted me to ask her to write a guest post for this blog. To help facilitate further learning, we settled on the topic of one of my favourite things: Twitter Chats. Accompanying this article is Nadia's SlideShare presentation that gives you some visual understanding of what she explains below. I encourage you to take a few minutes and check it out as well. Now, I'll pass the mic to Nadia...


Following users on Twitter is a fairly easy process. You enter a username and click the follow button. Following a Twitter chat should be just as simple right? Wrong! I discovered this only after joining my first twitter chat - #CSTD2012. I was eager to get involved in the discussion so I posted a tweet in response to a question. I was surprised to see how fast each tweet from other users in the chat filled the timeline.I was trying to keep up and frequently forgot to add the chat hashtag when making a comment. I was gaining a lot of new information but I still had so many questions and clearly so little time.

• How do I stay involved in the chat?
• How much can I tweet?
• How do I respond to comments?
• What other chats can I join?

With the help of a fellow tweeter - @JGoodTO - I have come to realize there are a few things to bear in mind when you join a Twitter chat:

1. Remember to hashtag - #! This may seem obvious but when you are trying to keep up with the topic it can be easily forgotten. This will result in your tweet being posted on your timeline and not in the chat. Tweetchat is a tool that automatically adds the hashtag to your tweets and can keep you up to speed and focused on one topic.

2. Keep your posts short and sweet. Given the pace of the discussion you are going to want your tweets to get right to the point. You can use your 140 character limit efficiently by using acronyms and shortening some of your words. Keep in mind the chat hashtag is included in your character count as well.It is also easier for other tweeters to retweet or quote your comments if they are brief.

3. Check your Mentions. You need to remember to check ‌ your ”mentions” to ensure you have not missed any opportunities to answer direct questions regarding your tweet or share ideas. Forgetting to do this could limit your chance of enhancing your discussion.

4. Explore the twitter-sphere. Join chats you are interested in and practise, practise, practise! Search Twitter, read other user tweets and click on the #hashtags they have added to their postings. You can also make up #hashtags and see what has been posted.

I have learned a lot from joining these chats. They have helped me collaborate with tweeters around the world to brainstorm and build resources, so get out there and enjoy your journey towards lifelong learning. ‌ ‌

Twitter Value: Part 2 - Professional Development

I am finding there is certainly no shortage of great things to write about Twitter and its many uses. This post will focus on what I think it brings to the table for professionals. I will be quoting from my most recent #learnwme chat during which we discussed this topic and more. 

My Twitter experience has provided me with so much learning that I feel like I've been through various college courses without having to pay! I've learned about Project Management from @PMHut, Instructional Design and elearning from Connie Malamed, the @elearningcoach, and Digital Media and Marketing from the Digital Marketer, @alizasherman. 

Most recently, I participated in a session of #blogchat, and was amazed and grateful at how helpful the participants on the chat were in helping me learn about archiving, writing and a host of tips to make my blog experience more efficient and enjoyable. Here are a few excerpts from that night:

During my last #learnwme chat, many other options were shared and agreed on, such as checking industry trends and improving customer service: 

As well as the back channel communication that takes place at conferences and also keeping the momentum going afterward via Twitter: 

Of course, networking, sharing and following those in your industry that you admire or want to learn from are valuable uses professionally for Twitter as well: 

Honestly, I believe the possibilities that exist when you use Twitter for professional development and opportunities are basically limitless. As I pointed out during our most recent chat, make sure that your participation with others on Twitter is always a two-way street: Don't just give, and don't just receive. The exceptional value I've experienced from using Twitter thus far has come about because I have helped others just as much as they have helped me. Show a willingness to be helpful to others and you'd be amazed at how helpful the Twitter community is back in return. 

Here's a great link from WikiHow that I shared with the #learnwme chat partcipants that provides some more advice on using Twitter as a Professional. 

The most common advice I give people is to just jump in and get your feet wet. That's what worked for me. The more I used Twitter, the more I recognized its value and the more value I received. Learning, networking, collaborating, sharing, teaching - it's all there and in great abundance. So, what are you waiting for? 

LinkedIn: #learnwme Chat - November 5, 2012

The partial transcript for my Learn with Me chat that just happened tonight is published and ready to browse. It includes some useful links and tips to improve your LinkedIn profile. Our discussion tonight provided great advice between participants as well, so I'm sure you'll find this Storify link useful.

Please take advantage of the great info linked here and let me know below in the comments if you have any other LinkedIn questions. Thank you to all of you who participated and see you next Monday at 8pm EST! 

Learn with Me chat: Oct. 22, 2012

On Monday evening at 8pm EDT, I hosted my first Learn with Me chat! The focus was on Twitter, and along with helping participants learn how to use the platform better and participate in Twitter chats, we also discussed its value in the workplace.

I provided tips on using TweetChat.com in order to participate in the chat easily, and I also explained common and useful acronyms. I hope you find them helpful, too. 

There was a nice discussion on why organizations still aren't embracing Twitter and how we might convince them to hop on board. It was nice to have that discussed honestly and take a look at the real value of Twitter, something I'm going to do in my next series of posts. 

Please have a look at the partial transcript on Storify. I have tried to organize all the tips toward the beginning and gathered the focused conversations together as well. 

Join me on Mondays at 8-9pm EDT/EST for Learn with Me - #learnwme - and Let's Learn Social!