My wife, Mira Lowe, senior editor for features for CNN.com, keynoted the opening session of the 2013 Midwest Journalism Summit that NABJ-MU and the Diederich College of Communication co-hosted this past weekend. 

Mira surprised her audience, which mostly included dozens of journalism students from about a half dozen universities from Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and elsewhere by delivering her keynote, "How to Be a #Fearless Journalist," tweet by tweet. She had created 20 tweets altogether in advance, each with the hashtag #fearless, and revealed them one at a time – along, of course, with plenty of inspiration and encouragement.

I have captured Mira's tweets in a Storify so you can become #fearless, too. You can view "How to Be a #Fearless Journalist" in a Web browser or the slideshow embedded above; click the play button on the left to let it move forward itself, or the arrow to the right of the numbers to soak in each tweet at your own pace. Enjoy.

Updated: Here's another Storify about Mira's presentation, "CNN Digital Editor Teaches Young Journalists to be #Fearless," by NABJ-MU Secretary Monique Collins. She did the Storify as a #loweclass assignment.

Those new to my website may not know that my journalism classes in the Diederich College of Communication – otherwise known as #loweclass – have become adept at live tweeting campus events. Last summer, I wrote a lengthy article for Poynter.org that explained how that came to be and shared some tips. (I also have a number of blog posts about live tweeting events and my students success at it at herblowe.com/live-tweeting.html.)

Always looking for a new challenge for #loweclass – and myself – my two classes last fall combined to live blog from polling places on and near Marquette University during the general election on Nov. 6. Afterward, I was generally pleased with the students' efforts, especially since it was their first time using CoveritLive and live blogging and, as I shared before, the experience was eye-opening in terms of their uneasiness in approaching strangers.

Yesterday, my Digital Journalism III (JOUR 2100) class live blogged from a campus event that was part of the university's annual weeklong devotion to the exploration of its Catholic and Jesuit mission. This particular event's title: "Caring for Our Neighbors Locally and Globally: Addressing Health Care Disparities and Community Health Initiatives." It promised to have eight Opus Prize winners and representatives as panelists on stage for 90 minutes.

It was the first live blogging experience for most of the 18 students. I'm still forming my thoughts about the class' performance. However, at first blush it seemed that too many of them forgot about the greater audience witnessing their activity via the official #MissionWeek hashtag, not to mention all those who know about #loweclass ...

More to come ... 

Not long before Tuesday, my journalism seminar on campaigns and elections discussed what we would do in class on Election Day. We meet from noon to 1:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I offered to bring pizza and suggested monitoring mid-day elections coverage on major media websites. Junior journalism major Melanie Lawder's body language indicated she wasn't feeling that idea one bit. When I inquired further, Lawder said, in so many words, that the class should do journalism on Election Day. Her classmates signaled that they agreed.

Naturally, I sought to oblige. The students and I quickly considered how they could best interact with voters at polling places at or near Marquette University: Live tweeting. Exit polling. Multimedia reporting. Live blogging. Two factors led us toward the last option. First, Alec Brooks, another junior journalism major, explained how The Marquette Tribune – he is the student newspaper's copy chief – had begun to experiment with live blogging. Second, I know that many journalism educators and media companies use the technique in their classes and newsrooms.

Deciding what to do was easy. Executing the first #loweclass live-blogging experience would be a challenge. (Making things even more interesting: the 10 students in my journalism seminar on sports journalism, which also meets for 75 minutes each Tuesday, would participate, too.) I figured if my students could live tweet a university president's inauguration with only a day's training, learning how to live blog on Election Day was doable. As luck would have it, I attended the national college media convention last week in Chicago – where Jill Van Wyke, an assistant journalism professor at Drake University, expertly taught an audience how to use CoveritLive, a leading live event publishing platform used by mainstream media, educators, bloggers and major brands worldwide.

I alerted the 15 students that they would use CoveritLive via Facebook on November 2. Two days later, we used Facebook again to let them pick which polling site to be at. The next day, Monday, less than 24 hours before the polls opened, I sent a long email that outlined the plan – they were all to live blog for at least 75 minutes from their respective site – offered instructions for the CoveritLive smartphone app and provided tips on the differences between live tweeting and live blogging. I also advised that a related blog post from Steve Buttry could be helpful. Also, they were told to use the hashtag #jelection, in addition to #loweclass, so that their work would be seen and appreciated alongside the many student journalists who were covering Election Day nationwide.

As expected, given the nail-biting presidential election and U.S. senate campaign in Wisconsin, voter turnout was high. Two students – Ashley De La Torre and Ryan Ellerbusch of #loweclass #sports – started the live blogging when they reported at 6 a.m. to Alumni Memorial Union on campus. That polling place turned out to be especially busy throughout the day, and De La Torre and Ellerbusch proved crucial in helping us all figure out CoveritLive.

By and large, the students seemed to appreciate doing journalism on Election Day. As for live blogging and CoveritLive, the reviews were mixed, with some saying, for example, they liked not being restricted to 140 characters (as with Twitter) and that the experience allowed them to focus more on reporting. Others, however, did not think it was an appropriate assignment for a sports class or know what to do when they had finished live blogging. This was all very good feedback for the next #loweclass live-blogging experience.

From my perspective, I enjoyed how live blogging enabled me to interact with my students as they interacted with real people. More importantly, the experience showed where some of the journalism majors were in terms of their reporting skills. The biggest thing is that several of them were hesitant or seemingly afraid to talk with people they didn't know – an essential part of Election Day reporting for journalists. As veteran live tweeters, they are comfortable sharing short quotes from speakers or offering observations about what they see or hear. Live blogging can help them better realize the value of reporting and telling stories in a breaking news format.

It was all worthwhile, though, when the students learned how to get voters to answer their questions. As senior journalism major Michael LoCicero put it in his blog post, "Many people are turned off immediately if you ask for something private like their voting preference, but many people were happy to talk about having the chance to express their views." It's always great when students learn something – even when they don't always want to.

I had the pleasure of joining three journalists for a wonderful panel discussion at the PR+Social Media Summit yesterday at Marquette University. Nearly 250 people looked on as Sharif Durhams of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kathryn Janicek of WMAQ-TV (Chicago), Andy Tarnoff on OnMilwaukee.com and I generally agreed that social media presents interesting opportunities and challenges for journalists and news consumers.

Major kudos to everyone who helped produce the summit. Nearly 500 people registered for the one-day conference that focused on the convergence of strategic communications and social media. The Diederich College of Communication designed the event for senior executives, marketing and public relations professionals, brand managers, students and leaders and proceeds benefit a scholarship fund for the college's students.

I'm still in awe from having witnessed 250 people seem transfixed during Gee Ekachai's impressive 40-minute, multimedia presentation, "Visual storytelling: How Instagram's become a new social media superstar." Check it out via Slideshare and pay particular attention to the awesome YouTube video about Instagram near the end. (Here's a related blog post about the summit from Tara Vandygriff, a senior public relations student.)

Many thanks to the summit's organizers for allowing my Digital Journalism II students (#loweclass #digital) to attend and live tweet the session, "Corruption of Social Media Discourse: What You Need to Know. Why You Should Care," by David Kamerer, an assistant professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Communication.

People on campus then saw me rolling deep as #loweclass #digital walked from Alumni Memorial Union to Cudahy Hall to join students from one of my journalism seminar courses (#loweclass #sports) for a panel session titled "Want to Know What it Takes to Make It In Pro Sports?" Sponsored by the university's Circles eMentor Network, the panelists included Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond and Gord Ash and John H. Steinmiller, assistant general manager and media relations manager, respectively, for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Both classes were assigned to live tweet that discussion, too. By then #loweclass digital was into its second hour of constantly adding to the Twitterverse – and there were rumblings of being held hostage. I cannot win. Some of them moan and groan about spending 3 hours and 40 minutes with me in class each Wednesday. So instead I take them on two field trips and ask them to do a little journalism while there – and they still complain. Students!

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about how to make your twesume count, referring, of course, to the 160 characters (maximum) that comprise one's Twitter bio. After that post became one of the most visited pages yet on this website, Poynter.org accepted my offer to expand on the topic for its site's How To's and journalism education sections. "How to Write a Twitter Bio That'll Make You Stand Out as a Journalist" debuted there last week.

I crafted the article so it featured several tips for creating a great #twesume. They include start with the basics, show that you can write, always consider your audience, use relevant Twitter handles and hashtags, show a little of your personality, don't distract from your goal, have some place else for them to go and keep it updated. The article also includes great twesume examples from Erika Glover (@ErikaJGlover), Daniel Jimenez (@DMJreports), Taylor Shaw (@TaylorShaw_427), Eva Sotomayor (@sotomayoreva) and Brianna Stubler (@BriStubler).

I figured the article would resonate among journalism students and educators. It is about Twitter, after all. However, the response far exceeded my expectations. Indeed, the piece earned more than double the amount of tweets from its Poynter.org page than happened for my previous best-received article for them, about showing journalism educators how to teach students to live tweet campus events. At last look, this new offering has nearly 600 tweets!

A note about the headline: I definitely like it. But I think another reason the piece got so many retweets is because it doesn't just apply to journalists. The title could easily be "How to Write a Twitter Bio That'll Make You Stand Out."

Anyway, not everyone liked everything about the article. Many objected to the term twesume. Why? I'm not exactly sure. None of the dissenters in the comments section made an argument against the term that I can remember now. No matter. The point is we should take every opportunity to use those 160 characters to present our best self. Call it a twesume. Call it a Twitter bio. I don't care. Just use it so someone with a job will want to call you for an interview.

I am again teaching a journalism seminar course that focuses on how the media report on political campaigns and local, state and national elections. Last semester, I taught the class with a Diederich College of Communication colleague, James Scotton, and we had 12 students. This time, I'm on my own and have just five students. I had hoped for more given the focus this fall on the general election between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, instead of the lackluster GOP primaries last semester. Then again, this is the third time each of the five have had me for a teacher at Marquette University, so we are all well acquainted.

The course objectives are much the same as last time. They include developing a journalistic blog that offers fair and balanced commentary about media coverage, gathering and curating social media to tell and present stories about campaigns and elections; and analyzing how candidates use the media – and money – to shape their campaign messages. There's no course textbooks this time. However, I have negotiated with the Poynter Institute's News University to provide the students with access to some interesting and relevant course modules. They will include "Reporting on Religion and Political Candidates," "Social Media and Your 2012 Election Coverage," "Political Fact-Checking: Tips and Tricks for the 2012 Election" and "How to Work With Campaign Finance Data."

The students have individually chosen to monitor election news coverage from CNN, NBC News, Politico, The New York Times or The Washington Post as weekly beat assignments. They have also each picked a U.S. Senate race – in either Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri or Ohio – from which to analyze in a 1,500-word paper and to make a 15-minute class presentation. They will also similarly analyze and offer a presentation on one of these traditional campaign concerns: abortion, education, family values/civil unions, health care and homeland security.

I hope to again present relevant guest speakers. Last semester's group greeted, among others, Sharif Durhams, Mike Gousha, Charles Franklin and Eugene Kane. Also proud to say that a student from the spring, Tessa Fox, used the course as a springboard for a wonderful opportunity with The Washington Post.

Finally, this semester's class schedule better matches when "On the Issues with Mike Gousha" – the public affairs program that brings newsmakers and policy shapers to campus – is held at Marquette's law school. My students are excited to get to witness and live tweet from the "On the Issues" event featuring former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on October 4, the morning after the first presidential debate between Obama and Romney. So am I.

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.

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!