Over a year ago I began to share what I am learning at the moment. I did this through the hashtag #LrnToday which I also encouraged others to do.

It’s been a while since I’ve reflected on how well it has worked and how I’ve updated it. A while being since I first posted about the hashtag and then later created a page for #LrnToday.

Forced Reflection

As I think over the times I’ve used the hashtag, I realize I still have a long way to go to make it a habit. I need to start thinking about and sharing when I’m learning something new. It’s easy to learn something new and have it melt into my mind quickly becoming part of the knowledge that’s already there. It’s easy to forget who I learned something from or where it fits into the broader picture.

How do you attribute to someone’s inspiration and influence when you have no idea where it came from in your mind?

Not only that, but if I share what I’m learning about at that moment, I get feedback instantly from others if they already know or have interest in the topic.

If you asked me how I learned something specifically I wouldn’t be able to answer. I’ve learned over time by doing different things and playing around. LrnToday is meant to force me to be more conscientious about from whom and about what I’m learning.

Joining In

Over the past year and handful of months a few others have joined in sharing what they learned through the #LrnToday hashtag, although it’s been inconsistent at best.

It’s easy to start sharing the learning with others but then forget the next time. I even have a hard time myself remembering to Tweet what I’ve learned recently.

It’s common for Twitter chats to begin with everybody sharing what they’ve learned today, this week, etc. The idea of creating #LrnToday was born out of this practice.

Twitter chats occur weekly or every other week though and learning never stops. If you only reflect on what you learned weekly, it’ll either be lost or melt into the rest.

Sharing and reflecting on what’s been learned recently is a daily activity, if not hourly.

Reflection & Research

For the times I have remembered to use the #LrnToday hashtag, I now have a documented time and topic of what I learned. If I couldn’t learn in as much detail as I’d liked the first time around, I have all those Tweets to refer back to.

I now have a permanent memory of a topic that I’d love to dive deeper into but wasn’t able to the first time I learned about it.

I will for one be spending some time researching and learning about the topic Cynefin. I in fact just did a quick search for #LrnToday Cynefin and found when and from whom I was introduced to the topic from.

I can now take that topic and the conversation that occurred around it and have a better jumping off point for my research.

Failure or Success

I’ve been thinking if I would consider #LrnToday a failure or a success. Only a small handful of people have used #LrnToday and I’ve been introduced to some interesting topics, and words, but the hashtag remains mostly me.

So, if the hashtag going viral is a sign of success, it’s been a failure. Having something go viral isn’t success for me though. In fact it would make it unusable and overwhelming noise if it was used too much.

Success for me is the hashtag providing a place for me and others to share about what’s being learned at the moment. Giving a place to reflect, learn, share what’s learned with the ability to retrieve the information later.

It’s done that successfully for me, so in my eyes it has been a success. I’ve learned new things, shared what I’m learning and will continue to do so. I hope others join in the reflection and gain something for themselves from #LrnToday.

In the end it doesn’t really matter if it’s a failure or success as seen by others, it’s what it has brought to those who take advantage of it including myself.

I’m still to this day finding it useful and still hope to learn more from others as they bring topics they’re learning to #LrnToday.

#ResolutionNow

I don’t believe in huge leaping New Year’s Resolutions so as I began last year with a resolution now, I shall begin this year. I’m going to make a greater effort to continue sharing on #LrnToday and make it a point to reflect daily on anything new I’ve learned.

I also want to make a greater effort to share the #LrnToday love with others so I can learn more about those things I have no idea I’m interested in learning about.

My resolution is to have on great big learning party the entire year whether I know I want to know more or not.

Your Turn

I’m eager to learn more about everything but I have no idea what (ok I have a few ideas). Take the time and join in the discussion on Twitter with #LrnToday.

Just a quick sentence to reflect on what you’ve learned or what you hope to learn more about, that’s all it takes.

It’s your turn to join in the learning and sharing and perhaps learning something you had no idea you wanted to learn. The beauty of #LrnToday is that it’s open to anybody on any topic to enhance the diversity of life and learning.

Inspiration and innovation come from diversity, and #LrnToday provides diversity of learning.