by W. Ian O'Byrne

As the Internet increasingly becomes the dominant text of our society, we have the ability to take advantage of new opportunities to read and write with a global audience. Through the use of blogs we can read and share multimodal information on a variety or topics, for a variety of purposes. For example, I require my pre-service teachers to maintain a reflective blog in several of our classes, and as a result I try to maintain my own blog. I also daily read several dozen blogs by aggregating them in Google Reader and reading them on my computer, phone, and iPad using a tool like Feedly. 

One blog that pops to the top of my Feedly list daily is the collaborative work of the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. The focus of the work of the research hub is on “analyzing and interpreting the impact of the Internet and digital media on education, civic engagement, and youth.” The work of the research group, and initiatives like the DMLcentral blog are supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative. 

The DMLcentral collaborative blog features a panel of a fascinating blend of leaders in the fields of literacy, technology, and education. This collaboration results in an eclectic mix of various topics. These include new and digital literacies, open education, critical literacy, social media, etc. DMLcentral has a very healthy subscription of readers, many of which comment regularly. The end result is a community of learners and researchers focusing on the core values of the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. This blog is resource that I frequently use to inspire my own thinking when considering the authentic and effective use of technology in the classroom. 

W. Ian O'Byrne is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at the University of New Haven. You can follow him on Twitter (@wiobyrne), at Google+, or contact him at wiobyrne@gmail.com.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

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