Learning Circuits Asks- Should All Learning Professionals Be Blogging?

The Big Question is a new monthly feature on Learning Circuits Blog. Each month a new question is offered that is of interest to the learning community.

The Big Question for October is:
Should All Learning Professionals be Blogging?

-My answer is a resounding NO. My main concern in this question is the qualifier 'SHOULD' as if this is a commandment. Although Blogging is one of the newest technologies to hit the learning scene, my concern is learning professionals will once again fall into the trap we always seem to, taking a technology and holding on too tightly. What once was the next big thing today, tomorrow will be yesterday's news. Just as you have learning professionals hung up on PowerPoint being the be-all-end-all of training, the next generation may consider blogs (or Wikis) the be-all-end-all.

My second concern is that learning professionals will embrace blogging technology just because they are told it is the 'next big thing' in learning, and yet, it may not be the best for their circumstance. I've seen many cases where technology or software was embraced because it was 'cutting edge' only to sit on the shelf.

I look forward to a time when all learning professionals are open minded to new technology not because they have to, but because they have determined that technology is best for their circumstance.

We need to take a measurable and calculated path to ensure we don't pollute the technology with poor implementation.

This may seem odd coming from a learning technology professional, but we all remember the day when everyone embraced PowerPoint for every learning solution, only to have the technology watered down by poor presentations. We now have the situation where the learning community cringes (or laughs under their breath) when anyone mentions PowerPoint.