This document discusses using social media, specifically Twitter, to engage learners, including introverts, in educational activities. It notes that 33-50% of people are introverts who may feel uncomfortable with traditional engagement methods like talking to strangers. The document then contrasts characteristics of introverts and extroverts. It explains how Twitter allows introverts to participate without face-to-face interaction by sharing thoughts and having their voices heard. Examples are given of how hashtags and tweets can supplement traditional Q&A and provide engagement during and after educational events. Research is cited finding higher engagement and grades for students who use Twitter during class.

1. Utilizing Social Media
for Learner Engagement
#MAACME12
Derek Warnick
CME Grants Manager
Penn State College of Medicine

2. Disclosure
Derek Warnick
Principal
D. Warnick Consulting: The CME Guy
dwarnick@theCMEguy.com
http://www.thecmeguy.com
Twitter: @theCMEguy
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theCMEguy
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theCMEguy
Google+: gplus.to/theCMEguy
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thecmeguy
Blog: cmeconfessions.wordpress.com

3. Find a partner…
• Someone you don’t know
• Introduce yourself
• Tell them why you’re here and what you hope
to learn

4. How many of you were excited to talk
with someone new?

5. How many of you cringed?

6. I’m not a fan.
As much as half of your audience
might feel the same way.

7. Why?
Because 33-50% of the population falls under
the definition of an introvert*.
*Susan Cain – Quiet: The Power
of Introverts in a World That
Can’t Stop Talking

8. Extrovert vs Introvert
Introvert
People whose energy tends to expand through
reflection and dwindle during interaction
Extrovert
People who are energized by social situations
and tend to be assertive multi-taskers who think
out loud and on their feet

9. Characteristics of an Extrovert
• Enjoy human interactions
• Enthusiastic, talkative, asser
tive, and gregarious
• Take pleasure in activities
that involve large social
gatherings
• Tend to be energized when
around other people, more
prone to boredom when
they are by themselves

10. Characteristics of an Introvert
• Tend to be more reserved and
less outspoken in groups
• Often take pleasure in solitary
activities such as
reading, writing, using
computers, hiking and fishing
• Like to observe situations
before they participate
• More analytical before
speaking
• Easily overwhelmed by too
much stimulation from social
gatherings and engagement

11. Many traditional methods for
increasing learner engagement hold
little appeal to introverts.
So…how do we engage this portion
of our audience?

13. Introverts and Social Media
•Avoid the awkwardness of face-to-face
interactions with those they’re meeting for the
first time
•Allows them to have time to process info
before responding
•Gives them an opportunity to have their voice
heard without needing to fight over the talking
of others

15. (Quick) Twitter 101
Microblog 140
Share Learn

17. #HASHTAGS

19. Twitter for Audience Engagement
• Give a hashtag
• Encourage audience to tweet
• Tweet key points from presentation
• Solicit questions from audience

20. Other Benefits
• Takes presentation beyond meeting room
• Supplements traditional Q&A formats
• Allows for unlimited questions
• Digital notes

21. Example #1
• CBI’s 10th Forum on Educational Grants
• I couldn’t attend

22. Fortunately…

23. Example #2

24. Example #2

25. Example #3

26. Engaging potential audience

27. Engaging audience during activity

28. Engaging audience after activity

29. Does it work?
• Christine Greenhow, Education
Professor, Michigan State University
• Conducted a study on Twitter as a new form
of literacy*
• Adults who tweet during a class and as part of
the instruction:
– are more engaged with the course
content, instructor, and other students
– have higher grades than the other students
*Twitteracy: Tweeting as a New Literacy Practice
Christine Greenhow, Benjamin Gleason
The Educational Forum
Vol. 76, Iss. 4, 2012

30. Thank You!
Derek Warnick
Principal
D. Warnick Consulting: The CME Guy
dwarnick@theCMEguy.com
http://www.thecmeguy.com
Twitter: @theCMEguy
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theCMEguy
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theCMEguy
Google+: gplus.to/theCMEguy
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thecmeguy
Blog: cmeconfessions.wordpress.com