The response to my Poynter.org article, "How Journalism Educators Can Teach Students to Live Tweet Campus Events," has exceeded my expectations. It's been widely shared via Twitter from the Poynter site – indeed getting more than triple the amount of tweets for my previous three articles published there. I'm thrilled that journalism educators from across the country have embraced the idea of students learning to use Twitter as journalists.

"I'm planning my J classes for this fall at Winona State University in Winona, Minn.," Tom Grier wrote to me in an email he sent after coming across the article via an education association's tweet. "The Poynter article was quick, to the point and contained helpful links. I plan to use this in my fall classes ... with credit to you, of course."

Lindsey Wotanis of Marywood University in Pennsylvania also wants her journalism students to live tweet this fall. She asked a great question in her email: "How, if you found it necessary, did you deal with students who did not have access to either a smartphone or laptop when tweeting a live event? We are a small, liberal arts campus, and so it's very possible that some of my students may not have access. I don't want to abandon this idea, but am concerned about how best to handle a situation like that. Thanks for sharing your idea with the world!"

Certainly, this situation does arise when the assignment is introduced, as a few students will hold up what they like to call a "dumbphone." However, it has never kept anyone from adapting to the assignment and I had five classes do it last year. First, tell the class that smartphones are only so as long as the person using it is smart. Also, point out that only 12 to 16 tweets are required per assignment to emphasize that it's about quality, not not quantify.

What happens next is that a student without a smartphone or likely is likely already used to tweeting. He or she will readily show the others how to do it, and it's always a good thing – bonding! – when a students teaches another. This article, "No Smartphone for Irene? You Can Still Use Twitter, Facebook," is a good start for those with dumbphones.

I prefer students learn to tweet with a phone so they know what to do if dispatched to cover breaking news outside. On the other hand, I like to use Evernote on my laptop whenever live tweeting. The awesome note-taking application makes it easy to take down information, and is wonderfully integrated with Twitter so tweeting is quite simple. That said, while we wish more speakers and organizers would appreciate live tweeting at conferences, it might be best if a a large group of students with laptops sits to the side or in the back of the room.

Once again, thanks everyone for the positive feedback on my article and my students' success with live tweeting. I look forward to hearing how Tom's and Lindsey's students fare with the assignments this fall. Keep the questions coming – and remember to visit http://www.herblowe.com/live-tweeting.html for updates about the process.

Sophia A. Nelson always has much to say – no different during our 100-minute telephone chat yesterday. But amid all the back-and-forth chiding, supporting, defending, reflecting, dreaming, etc., four words she said – transparent, authentic, prescriptive, universal – had the most meaning for us both. These words defined how Nelson is extending her personal brand via social media and into Corporate America, she said. They also challenged me to consider what words might best describe my desired brand as a digital journalism educator.

We first met in the mid-1990s; I was still a newspaper reporter and covering her bid for elected office in New Jersey. These days, Nelson is – as stated on the website for her award-winning book, "Black Woman Redefined" – "an accomplished woman on the move. She is a much-sought-after speaker, media/political commentator, national columnist and first-time author who is 'redefining' the rules for 21st-century living and success."

Anyway, our conversation began with me commenting on the merits of Nelson, in my opinion, incessantly and publicly airing her emotions on Twitter. She replied that social media is leading people to become more transparent when dealing with anger, relationships, sex, religion, friendships, politics, etc. "That is what we do now," she said.

A couple years ago, Nelson aspired to political punditry in this presidential election cycle. She doesn't talk about politics anymore on Twitter, however, after noting that it typically cost her followers when she did. Nelson is developing a "very good following" via her 30-minute Twitter chats each Saturday, in which she aims to "take my personal and connect with others who are disconnected in ways that matter." Though her book is soon to be re-released as a paperback, Nelson said is broadening her brand from Black Women Redefined to Life Redefined.

"People want me to be inspirational. People want me to be prescriptive. They want me to help them make their life better. That's the girl I want to be – where people say, 'I don't know what Sophia's talking about today, but I know I don't want to miss what she's talking about.' I'm trying to be the Oprah of my generation. That's what I want to be."

Nelson offered Melinda Emerson, Marshawn Evans and Tera Carissa Hodges as exemplars of using social media and personal websites to promote their brands universally. I met Emerson about the same time as Nelson and admire her success. Looking forward to learning more about Evans and Hodges. Also will consider the idea about leading Twitter chats. First, as I said, I must determine what words uniquely channel my core competencies and the approach that best suits my brand. Would be happy to know your thoughts, everyone.

I had the honor of offering a 10-minute "show-and-share" presentation on live tweeting campus events at the 2012 Teachapalooza conference for journalism educators last month at the Poynter Institute. Those who follow my blog know my journalism students in the Diederich College of Communication regularly live tweet events at Marquette University. I enjoy promoting my students' success and thought sharing it at Teachapalooza would be pretty cool.

Many of my fellow educators there seemed to appreciate the presentation and concept. Some asked for a handout so they could try it in their fall courses. I didn't have any – shame on me! But I promised to share more via the conference listserve. Well, today I can finally make good on my promise. And thanks to my friends at Poynter.org, there's hope that many more journalism instructors will have their students live tweeting this next semester.

Yesterday, the website published my article, "How Journalism Educators Can Teach Students to Live Tweet Campus Events," in its How Tos>Journalism Education section. Expertly edited by Mallary Tenore, it stresses four points: First and foremost, focus on the fundamentals; use class time to show students how it's done; make the first experience worthwhile and set goals moving forward, and continue encouraging your students.

The article is getting a great response; more than my prior Poynter.org submissions: "Flash: Educator and Students Disagree," "Some Journalism Among the Madness" and "Digital Divide in Mobile News Interest." Interestingly, when Tenore first tweeted that the article was published, she asked for feedback, something I need to do better when I post things on Twitter. Indeed, among the replies was this advice from the editorial staff @TheSkannerNews: Prepare material in advance-don't just wing it; know your hashtags!; be ready to #FF your fellow livetweeters."

My article is likely as long as Poynter.org could likely stand it. There's so much more me and others could offer about educators and students aiming to live tweeting campus events. Please visit my related blog – www.herblowe.com/live-tweeting.html – to see additional posts about the concept and my students' success. Don't hestitate to contact me if you have any questions. I know you and your students will enjoy the experience.

I learned something while witnessing a great News University webinar a few weeks ago, "Social Media in the Classroom," that will hopefully make things better for me and my students – especially for their live tweeting assignments and our interaction on Twitter and Facebook. 

Led by the course's instructor, Jen Lee Reeves, and hosted by NewsU director Vicki Krueger, the webinar focused on how social media can enhance learning for students, why it's worth taking the risk in the classroom and examples that have worked. Reeves, the interactive director at KOMU-TV and komu.com, was amazing. Just learning about her awesome website at http://www.jenleereeves.com was worth the cost and 75 minutes at the computer.

Reeves also teaches new media as an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. Midway through the session she said she focuses much of her interaction with students using the hashtag #jenclass. She has a Tumblr account and a Facebook group for current and former students, both identified by #jenclass. She also uses it for hashtag conversations with her students on Twitter, and expects it to happen during class time.

OMG! Why didn't I think of #loweclass before? I maintained a mandatory Facebook group for each of my courses last year at Marquette: Digital Journalism I (JOUR 1100), Digital Journalism II (JOUR 1550) and MU JOUR 4953 (Elections). Each time I wrote a new blog post meant having to put it into each group. This risked annoying those students who were in two or three of the groups, though I didn't want to neglect those who were only in one. Now, having a single #loweclass Facebook group means one post reaches all of my current and former students.

The new hashtag will have even greater impact for us on Twitter. My students regularly live tweet campus events and must include a class hashtag within each tweet as part of a given assignment. Using #JOUR1100 #JOUR1550 or #JOUR4953 isn't too bad if you're only using one of them. But that's 29 characters – remember, Twitter allows only 140 per tweet – whenever I want to get everyone's attention in all three classes during an assignment. The same applies when I want to share a weblink to a nicely written story or a link to a webpage offering nice job-hunting tips.

Using #loweclass will instead keep all three classes in the same hashtag conversation. And for the biggest live-tweeting opportunities, when our collective efforts causes an event hashtag to trend on Twitter, well, having #loweclass in each tweet means that my hashtag should like trend as well. That would not be a bad thing – would it?

I also require my students after every class to tweet about something they learned that day. Again, they must use their class hashtag, which means I have to look at three different hashtags – way too cumbersome and complicated – and the students only follow their respective conversation. Using #loweclass instead produces only one conversation and would help me make sure everyone's in it; yes, it will even help me take attendance. Better still, students and educators whom I can encounter nationwide would hopefully participate, too. Yes, the possibilities abound, including having my students live tweet when we have guest speakers in the new #loweclass. I'm excited!

It's so great when an online article I'm reading in bed grabs me so much that I jump up ready to blog about it? That just happened after a tweet by @WriteOnTrack_L led me to its new blog post, "The Value of Twitter at Conferences."

The tweet caught my eye because it referenced Tim Cigelske, who manages Marquette University's social media accounts. The writer, Lorna Sixsmith, shares several reasons why she, Cigelske and others support tweeting at conferences. Among them: relaxing the audience; increasing its size; creating more engagement with the speaker or panelists; fostering greater attention from those tweeting, and providing instant feedback via the hashtag.

Sixsmith, a copywriter and social media consultant, also offers other blog posts I think would help my journalism students and journalism educators elsewhere. In "The Power of the Hashtag," she writes about how a targeted word after the # symbol can help summarize an event, bring attention to a particular topic and unite tweeters. I really like that Sixsmith uses tweets with hashtags to help keep notes. "140 characters is perfect for note taking," she writes.

Next we have "Why Tweet at Conferences." Sixsmith discusses in this post the benefits for organizers (free publicity, instant feedback, generate interest, keep attendees happy) and attendees (networking, icebreaking, concentrating, sensitizing, sharing and, my favorite, gaining more followers). There's also "How to Tweet at Conferences," in which Sixsmith gives both sides of the lectern "some tips on how to get it right." They include ensuring the hashtag is visible, wifi is available and working, and speakers' Twitter usernames are given.

Finally, back to Cigelske. Sixsmith tweeted that he inspired her latest post with his compelling "Dealing With a Distracted Audience" article in the July edition of Toastmaster magazine. I wish more speakers in academe would heed the subhead: "Don't be put off by those who text or tweet when you speak." Anyway, Cigelske urges organizers and speakers to embrace live tweeting. "When audiences are involved, they are more engaged," he writes. "You want audiences to become companions as you lead them to the final destination or purpose of your speech."

I couldn't agree more. Many thanks to Sixsmith and Cigelske for their thoughtful offerings.

In a prior blog post about my interaction with recent college graduate Erika J. Glover I promised to reveal what makes a good #twesume, that is, the 160 characters (maximum) that make up your Twitter bio. Well, an aspiring sports broadcaster read the post and quickly emailed me to ask for immediate twesume help. Here it is.

I first heard the term twesume from social media guru Sree Sreenivasan at the Poynter Institute's Teachapalooza conference for journalism educators in June. "Fill out your Twitter bio so it reflects the best, most recent version of you," said Sreenivasan, Columbia University's new chief digital officer. He also said, "I tell my students: Make your Twitter bio blue." Translation: Use Twitter handles and hashtags that can help your bio appear in broad searches.

A quick Google search found this useful Web link: "How a 140-Character Twitter Resume Could Land Your Next Job." Again, a Twitter bio gets 20 more characters than a tweet. Also see "Get Your Twesume On," "Guidelines for Twitter Bios," "How Short Can Your CV Get? Tried a 'Twesume' Yet?" and "How to: Effective Twitter Bios."

Make your 160 characters count! Aspiring journalists: Do your best to use AP style and correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Look how Erika went from "South Carolina born – Pennsylvania tested Reporter/Anchor for the @CentreCountyRep. PSU Alumna/Journalist/Travel Enthusiast" to "2012 @penn_state grad! Aspiring international #journalist seeking first TV reporting job. #NABJ member ready to shoot, edit & write! Purveying #Olympics facts." Which version is more likely to draw more eyes (from recruiters) her way via Twitter and Internet searches?

You can see my twesume at @herbertlowe. I hope you find this post helpful. Please do let me know.

I have shared how my journalism students in the Diederich College of Communication "live tweet" campus events at Marquette University – and use Storify to present their stories afterward. (See "Using Twitter for Journalism Mightily," "'Oh My!' Enberg Lecture Trends" and "Classes Live Tweet #muawards.") Until now, however, I could only tell you about it. Now, thanks to a new web-based tool called Storination, it's much easier to show you.

Storination is still in its infancy; one must request an invite from the entity before using it. I only heard about it thanks to Benet Wilson, chairwoman of the NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force and who students affectionally call "Aunt Benet." As she writes in a task force blog post, "Missed #NABJ? Check Out Storination," the tool "allows you to put all the Storifys from a single event — like #NABJ12 — in one place for folks to read and share." Nice!

The Storination interface is easy to use, though it would be nice to have more flexibility reorder the imported Storifys. Getting cover images to work with text is another challenge; the cover image offered above is OK. Anyway, today I created several storyboards – that's what Storination calls the virtual spaces used to create an online set of Storifys – mostly based on the Twitter hashtags used for the campus events my classes live tweeted en masse.

Check out "Journalism Classes Live Tweet Presidential Inauguration," "Milwaukee Photographer Shares Cuba Perspective," "Hall of Famer Dick Enberg Lectures at Marquette," "Spurlock Speaks at Marquette," "Diederich College Recognizes Five Distinguished Alumni" and "Marquette Journalism Students Live Tweet Campus Events."

Before Storination, I used a web browser to bookmark all the student Storifys. An inelegant option, especially given likely many more to come. Besides, a main reason for students to live tweet and use Storify is so they have more to show afterward than just a 500-word story that only their instructor reads. The new tool should better enable students to compare their efforts and learn from one another. Beyond that, Storination wants users to create an online "nation," where people share social stories on the same topic. Look out soon for the first #loweclass nation!

I recently wrote about my wonderful opportunity to speak about blogging, digital portfolios and social media profiles to dozens of aspiring journalists at the NABJ Convention and Career in New Orleans. Well, one of those attendees wrote me an email a couple of hours afterward that touched me as much as it surprised me.

"The workshop you facilitated this afternoon was amazing. So amazing that it inspired me to instantly enhance my website," wrote Erika J. Glover of South Carolina, who graduated from Penn State University in May after studying broadcast journalism and international studies. "Of course, I understood the importance of utilizing social media and other software to expand my scope and influence. Yet, it was not until I heard you speak that I realized its actual significance." Erika also said "my dream, rather, my destiny is to become an international reporter." She added: "My hope is that I can maintain contact with you throughout my career" and "currently, my focus is on my job hunt." 

So what surprised me? I remembered this young woman seeming inattentive during the NABJ session. I asked why upon calling Erika without warning on Tuesday. She said she was contemplating what she had and had not learned at Penn State. No worries, I said. What matters is what happened henceforth. "I am prepared to invest in you 100 percent," I told her, if she was prepared to invest in me the same. Erika replied matter-of-factly, "I am."

The next day, July 4, we spoke for two hours! We discussed everything from what she learned at the convention to her creating a LinkedIn profile to her using the same portrait across social media platforms to tweeting smartly with hashtags and by the one-third rule: 33 percent information, 33 percent news and 33 percent personal. We also focused on her "twesume" – that is, the 160 characters (maximum) that make up her Twitter bio. (Here's more about what makes a good twesume.) We also talked about the importance of using AP style and correct grammar, spelling and punctuation in her tweets, so she demonstrates that she can write effectively.

Erika also shared that she was shadowing reporters at a television station in Columbia. She was happy to be alongside professionals daily and getting help with her resume tape. We spoke about creating a digital portfolio that could best present her aspirations, experience and potential to news directors and recruiters. I'm looking forward to our interaction and hope it becomes part of my independent study for graduate school. More importantly, I'm eager to learn that Erika has found her first reporting job. It will touch me, no doubt. It certainly will not surprise me.

This week begins the second summer session at Marquette University. As a graduate student inching closer to a master of arts degree in communication, I hope during the next six weeks to complete a three-credit independent study that would serve as the capstone course and end my quest for a 15-credit graduate certificate in digital storytelling offered by the Diederich College of Communication. My four other courses for the certificate include Emerging Media, Journalism in Literature, Craft of Digital Storytelling and Storytelling in Public Life.

As part of the independent study, titled "Becoming a Digital Leader and Educator," I hope to:

• Create an enhanced Internet presence that better or more completely brands me as a journalism educator.
• Create a sophisticated story using Final Cut Pro X that involves narration, video and images. 
• Live tweet and Storify an event to demonstrate my understanding of social media and curating digital assets.
• Blog at least once weekly about matters involving digital storytelling and or emerging media.
• Read and review of "The Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence," by Erik Qualman.
• Write a final paper that captures the scope and breath of all these efforts and their relationship to one another.

If all goes well, finishing the independent study would leave me six credits short of my master's degree, which would feature a specialization in digital storytelling. The fall semester would likely find me in an advanced qualitative methods course and for the final three credits I plan on creating a professional project – one in which I would combine theory and practice to produce something to benefit journalism educators and students everywhere.

Pursuing an advanced degree has consumed much of my life since fall 2010, but I have learned so much from each course and each instructor and my classmates. It has all definitely enhanced my teaching; indeed, I wonder if I would have begun blogging if not a weekly requirement in Emerging Media. Well, two things continue to push me forward: 1) knowing that a master's degree is essential given my ambitions, and 2) marching across the stage next May to receive my degree at the same time my first students – "the originals" – do the same to get theirs.