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"It's as if there's a layer of conversation lying on top of the regular web," shared David Warlick at the TechForum Texas that took place on November 10, 2005. At the same time, he introduced the concept of a Personal Learning Network, or PLN. Facilitated by blogs and RSS Feeds, the purpose of the PLN is professional development within an area of interest. This idea of building your own professional development network – where you find the people from whom you can learn, ask questions of them, comment on their thoughts and links, and have them do the same for you – is one of the major benefits of blogging and podcasting. It is the art of conversation captured in digital format. This article shares how blogs enable both adult learners and students to create their own Personal Learning Networks, sometimes with unintended consequences – both positive and negative. It also examines possible solutions to address unintended consequences among student blog use.

Administrators, learning designers, and teachers are facing a new kind of learner - someone who has control over the learning tools and processes. When educators fail to provide for the needs of learners (i.e. design learning in an LMS only), learners are able to "go underground" to have their learning needs met.