Our top 10 recommended L&D blogs

If you are an L&D practitioner looking for insights on current issues affecting our profession, then checking out the thoughts and musing of some top L&D bloggers is a great way to broaden your horizons and spark some new ideas. There are so many L&D blogs out there that compiling this list has been something of a challenge! Here are the 10 L&D blogs we wouldn't want to miss. We'd love to know which L&D blogs you rate and why. Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @Emerald_Works.

1. Nick Shackleton-Jones

Nick's very well-known in L&D for his fresh thinking. He's worked in various roles for the BBC, BP, Siemens and currently, PA Consulting Group. His straight talking aconventional blog consistently pushes the boundaries. It isn't afraid to pose challenging questions that encourage us to reflect on our own practice, and on what the future of our profession should really be. Many posts have a UX or design focus, but he covers a range of topics and often shares helpful diagrams and video content to support his ideas. We'd also recommend following Nick on LinkedIn as he regularly shares new posts via LinkedIn Pulse.

Follow Nick on Twitter @shackletonjones

2. Julie Drybrough

We are big fans of the Fuchsia Blue blog and Julie's writing style. As an OD consultant, experienced facilitator and coach, Julie's work often takes centre stage on her blog. She talks about working with a variety of interesting clients and working through complex problems and challenges with them. It's always a reflective, thoughtful read, thanks to Julie's insatiable curiosity about L&D practice and how we can change behaviours to achieve organisational change. She asks a lot of questions, not just of herself, but of L&D in general - and these will certainly challenge you to think about your own approaches and how they might be improved.

Follow Julie on Twitter @fuchsia_blue

3. David Kelly

David is Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the US-based eLearning Guild. As well as being a regular contributor to the eLearning Guild's TWIST blog, his own Misadventures in Learning blog is a fantastic source of expertly curated resources and backchannel content from a host of L&D events and conferences across the US and UK. His blogs also feature regular commentary on harnessing the power of social media technologies to support learning.

Follow David on Twitter @LnDDave

4. Mark Britz

Mark is Senior Manager of Programs at the eLearning Guild. He is also an expert on 70:20:10 and regularly consultants for the 70:20:10 Institute. His blog is called The Simple Shift and is based on the premise that as our world becomes increasingly complex, we should focus on what makes us human - namely collaboration, networks and trust.

Follow Mark on Twitter @britz

5. Ger Driesen

Ger Driesen is an internationally renowned expert on learning, leadership and talent. He has also held some pretty awesome job titles including L&D Trend-Catcher and he is now Learning Innovation Leader at Dutch learning tech company aNewSpring. Ger's regular Learning Notes are a curated selection of some of the best thinking, ideas and upcoming trends in L&D. They have a truly international perspective, and all come wrapped up with Ger's thoughtful commentary.

Follow Ger on Twitter @GerDriesen You can also listen to Ger on the Good Practice podcast discussing how to get started with digital learning initiatives.

6. Helen Blunden

Helen is flying the flag for progressive, modern L&D approaches in Australia. Founder of the highly respected consultancy Activate Learning Solutions, her work is about enhancing digital skills and social networking behaviours to help people learn quicker and smarter. The Activate Learning blog is a rich repository of insightful content on what's new and exciting in L&D, plus commentary on key events, projects and challenges she's working on. What's more, Helen is also a proponent of working out loud and is a prolific tweeter, Snapchatter and storyifier (did we just make up a word?!) so you can be sure of staying up to date.

Follow Helen on Twitter @ActivateLearn

7. Sukh Pabial

The Thinking About Learning blog is a must-read. Sukh's a pretty experienced L&D leader, having worked at a senior level across a number of different industries. He's also an occupational psychologist, speaker and facilitator to boot. He often shares insights about how psychology can help us improve as L&D practitioners, but we also respect his approach because he isn't afraid to raise some tough issues that L&D practitioners face. From L&D's credibility to the rhetoric and myths of our profession, Sukh's blog always offers a different take on the L&D landscape.

Follow Sukh on Twitter @sukhpabial

8. Filtered

We are big fans of the Filtered blog - mainly because it's a great source of practical information that's perfect for L&D practitioners. Whether you need to develop a business case for your next L&D initiative, get to grips with analysing data, create a good PowerPoint presentation or improve your project management skills, the Filtered blog has it covered.

Follow Filtered on Twitter @Filtered_Tech

9. HT2 Labs

The HT2 Labs blog aims to keep your finger on the pulse of the learning technologies industry. As you'd expect, there's lots to be found on how to create and implement successful MOOCs, as well as plenty of well-researched posts on xAPI, gamification, using data and analytics, content curation and more. We'd also recommend subscribing to the weekly Research Digest, which collates HT2 Labs' pick of the latest articles and research on L&D related research.

Follow HT2 Labs on Twitter @HT2Labs

10. Harold Jarche

In his own words, Harold is a keen subversive of the last century's management and education models. His Learning and Working in Perpetual Beta blog is highly respected, as is his consulting work with a stellar roll call of clients and high profile speaking engagements. His 'seek-sense-share' and personal knowledge mastery (PKM) concepts are the main focus of the blog - he writes about how to achieve organisational reform through collaboration, social learning, knowledge sharing and improved social networking.

Follow Harold on Twitter @hjarche