This blog records that Mahara has turned 15. There is information on who instigated the development of Mahara and its wide reach now in the world of eportfolio platforms.
The blog has a video with recordings of representatives from around the world, who use Mahara.
At the moment, we are reviewing Mahara. In 2022, we will be updating the version of Mahara available. We will then carry out a pilot to evaluate if Mahara is able to meet the needs of one of our degree programmes. The premise of Mahara is to allow people to collect, collate and showcase their learning. Some of our teachers and students have struggled with the 'openess' of Mahara in the past. So this time around, we will work on creating a template to help teachers and learners use Mahara in a more targeted way.
My thoughts are that many of our programmes do not need a full-blown eportfolio platform. Many programmes use portfolios as a form of assessment in a few courses. In many case, the portfolio is more of a report than an actual portfolio. The use of other tools are therefore more appropriate when collection of evidence is relatively small and showcasing of the work is text-based and in the form of an assigment. Collection and collation can therefore be completed using word-processing platforms. An eportfolio platform is more suitable when whole programme collection of learning evidence across courses is required. Collation of evidence of learners meeting graduate profiles may be another aspect matched to the use of eportfolio platforms. Therefore, it is important to establish the main objective of the portfolio and match the tool, rather than use an eportfolio platform for everything.
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