Who I read update

Some time ago, I posted about whose blogs I was reading on a daily basis, which folks appeared to find useful. Yesterday I twice found myself recommending blogs that I read, so I thought the time had come to do a bit of an update. I will restrict myself to those which did not appear in my last list, unless a previously listed blog deserves a special mention for some or other reason:

For general inspiration, and usually unrelated to my field, I have a daily dose of:

Gaping Void. Hugh MacLeod cuts straight to the heart of issues and illustrates them with a unique and instantly recognisable style. Harold Jarche once sent me this one of Hugh's cartoons. I printed it out and stuck it on my desk. I still have it and, let me tell you, in my new role as self-employed L&D Consultant, it is proving truer than ever!

Head Rambles (severe language warning). A pseudonymous, award-winning blog penned by the hilariously cantankerous Grandad. He's not really as cantankerous as he would have us believe, though, and occasionally reveals his warm, fuzzy side, which he attempts to cover with bluster.

More closely related to learning:
blog of proximal development. Konrad Glogowski is a passionate learning professional seeking ways to understand the challenges facing the developing world and to address them. He has recently returned from a trip to Africa, and is currently writing about issues very dear to my heart.

e4innovation. Grainne Conole (GRON-yeah coNOlee) is Professor of e-learning at the Open University. She is a somebody on the learning scene. The first time she commented on my blog I nearly got the vapours. One of my colleagues emailed me to say: Wow! Grainne Conole reads your blog! You've arrived! Unfortunately that proved to be no more true than the first time Stephen Downes gave me a shoutout. I guess you just gotta make it on your own worth ;o)

e-Luminations. Kobus van Wyk (KWUHbiss fun VAYK) is involved in an initiative that seeks to address the technological inequity faced by teachers in the poorer parts of South Africa. A worthy cause indeed, encountering obstacles most of us wouldn't even think of!

Experiencing E-learning. Christy Tucker has become one of an increasingly tight-knit group of ladies I meet in all sorts of spaces. This group also includes Wendy Wickham, Cammy Bean and Janet Clarey. We play online Scrabble derivatives against each other in Facebook. We comment on one another's photos, take an interest in one another's families and encourage one another on a personal level. That is not what makes Christy's blog worth reading - what does, is that she thinks out loud on her blog about her own experiences, which many of us share with her.

Growing changing learning creating. Just the title of Tom Haskins's blog should pique the curiosity of any innovative learning professional. He and I had an early run in, when I challenged him on one of his posts about blogging some time ago, but that doesn't prevent his reflections from being worth reading. In fact, unless we want to live in echo chambers, we should take care to engage in conversations where disagreement is expressed.

Jane's E-learning Pick of the Day. I can't believe I left Jane Hart off my last list! What was I thinking? She genuinely provides a service to the L&D community by reviewing a useful tool every single day, many of which are free. She also compiles lists: tools favoured by the community; L&D Twitterers; Social networks for L&D professionals, you name it!

Learning. Not the most frequent of bloggers, Lynn Wernham often points to and reflects on posts she has read, allowing readers to leapfrog to conversations they might otherwise have missed - particularly if they share her passion for coaching and mentoring in the workplace.

Learning Design and Performance Improvement. The newly capped Master's degree holder, Benjamin Hamilton shares his reflections on emerging technologies. .. although he has been AWOL since June. You still out there, Benjamin?

Making Change. Cathy Moore is possibly my favourite 'talk sense, provide practical advice' blogger in the whole world. I think I have shown so many people her action mapping post that anyone who hasn't see it must have been in a coma! Cathy grasps the reality that workplace learning is about change and tackles that fact head on... with cracking illustrations!

Neurophilosophy "is a weblog about molecules, minds and everything in between". There's a lot that happens on this blog that I don't understand - Mo Costandi is on a different plane from me - but those posts I do understand blow my socks off every time. I have learned a lot more about the brain than I would have thought my own brain could handle, largely because Mo writes so well and so accessibly.

Technogenii's blog. I met Kristina Schneider through a Facebook group and wound up becoming one of her interview subjects for her dissertation. We share a passion for the use of social media in corporate learning. Like me, she experienced her ups and downs on the journey to her Master's degree. Unlike me, she has now submitted her dissertation!

The Rapid eLearning Blog. Tom Kuhlman is an Articulate whizz. He should be. He works for the company! many organisations have reached the koolaid point on Articulate and are wielding it something like the hammer that makes everything look like a nail. While I don't think it is as universally applicable as some would have us believe, Tom provides such usable, practical ideas, that I find myself tagging just about every post he writes!

Group blogs:
Work Literacy. This "is a network of individuals, companies and organizations who are interested in learning, defining, mentoring, teaching and consulting on the frameworks, skills, methods and tools of modern knowledge work."

Workplace Learning Today is a Brandon Hall initiative exploring issues that the title suggests "coordinated by Gary Woodill... with contributions from Janet Clarey... Richard Nantel... and Tom Werner"