Mahara - eportfolio platform - is 15 years old

 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.

               

update on eportfolios

Working with several teaching teams this semester. The objective being to use some form of 'eportfolio' in 2017 to provide formative feedback to students and then collate evidence collected in to some form of 'showcase' for summative assessment.

So updating my links etc. and understanding of the eportfolio landscape, first blogged on way back in 2005 at the start of my blogging journey.

The spread of tools available for eportfolio type activities has increased. The link to epac provides an evolving list of eportfolio tools and technologies. There are now many 'customised' tools whereas in the beginning, we tended to use wikis and blogs. Although there is still the use of blogging platforms as eportfolios as evidenced through emergedtech's  example of using tumblr in the classroom.

A good overview is found at learning eportfolios providing history of development, types of eportfolios etc. A critique and ideas forward is provided by geoffcain who advocates the connectivist approach to eportfolios.

So overall, lots of choices. We need to establish the fit of learning outcomes / objectives to our standard eportfolio tool - Mahara - as blogged previously and if the fit is precarious, explore alternatives.

Mahara for eportfolios - summary and update

Working with a team of tutors to establish eportfolios. CPIT has had Mahara available for some years. However, as with other portfolio tools / platforms, Mahara comes with a requirement to learn how to use the platform along with support for the students (and staff) on how to construct eportfolios which are founded on reflective practice.

Currently, Mahara is on version 15.04, manual, ebook, guide to using the journal on Mahara, overview of induction session for students and useful info and instructions are available.  Also this link provides guides from versions 1.2 through to 1.9. Flash tutorials and examples - traditional and another one here also good resources.

Pros and cons are discussed along here and  a comparison of mahara with wordpress / google apps provided here.

Overall, a need to establish if we need to go to full blown eportfolio capability or scaffold from paper eportfolio to digital story on powerpoint before moving to Mahara.

Comparing pebblepad to Mahara

Our Centre for Educational Development (CED) manager has organised access to trial pebblepad. The main reason is for CED staff to record their experiences, as they work with teams, to support the programme design process. At CPIT, we base programme design on principles of constructive alignment, starting with the development of graduate profiles. From the graduate profiles, flow learning outcomes which are tightly linked to learning and assessment activities.


I have used Mahara off and on and found the interface to be mostly intuitive. I have been playing around with pebble pad this week and in comparison, Pebble pad has a ‘prettier’ front page and is also mostly intuitive to use. There are more elements to Pebble pad as well, making it more flexible. Parts of Pebble pad are user customisable, so there is less of having to do things for the sake of filling up the space.

Pebble pad, like Mahara, works through the collection of assets/artefacts. A difference is that pebble pad treats ALL entries as assets, whereas Mahara tends to have an area for uploaded artefacts and the other entries (journal/blog, CV) etc. are separate ‘blocks’ that you can choose to display.

There is a sharper learning curve to learning how to use pebble pad because there are so many ways to collect and then display assets. Therefore, it is important to provide examples and opportunities for learners to see the bigger picture. One advantage of Mahara is that you can configure various 'showcases' for your portfolio depending on audience. You can do the same in Pebble pad as well by setting up separate webfolios or blogs but it is less obvious.

A trawl through the www indicates a slant towards pebble pad. Examples include this Australian report surveying TAFEs and universities, indicating more users of Pebble pad (p 17) and eportfolio platforms being the most widely used (amongst Australian tertiary institutes) although more so in universities than their TAFE sector who tended to lean towards using their in-house LMS. And a UK report comparing several eportfolio alternatives, trimming them down to a choice between pebble pad and Mahara and deciding on pebble pad as it would be serviced and the institute did not have to set up their own unit to oversee.
 
 

Learning practical skills via elearning

The earthquake of 22/2 has challenged us to think more deeply about how to deliver learning opportunities to students without access to practical workshops / teaching areas. A large amount of contact time is put into providing student with opportunities to practice new skills and to assist students with applying newly learnt knowledge to practical tasks and real-world scenarios.  Many of the CPIT programmes located in the now non-accessible city campus will have to re-develop how to helps students complete practical skills training without access to specialised training facilities and equipment.

I have been thinking the above over the weekend and  making connections to my learning of tai chi. I attend a weekly tai chi practice session and have been doing this for many years. Over the last few summers, our group have been attempting to learn a more advanced form of tai chi using a sword - called a jian. Our difficulty has stemmed from having teachers who are expert practitioners from China, who are usually on holiday in Christchurch, visiting family. Each of our teachers over the last few summers have been from different parts of China. So apart from contending with understanding regional dialects of Mandarin, each teacher practiced a different form of sword tai chi. So progress, has been slow and confusion reigns for about 3 or 4 sessions before we adapt, after which, the teacher returns to China, leaving us to unravel the form through notes and videos (if available).

My proposal was to video ourselves doing the form and sending the video to our teacher in China. However, this plan never took off due to mixed digital literacy of our Chinese teachers and camera shyness on the part of some of the tai chi learners.

I now plan to take the above concept further here at work. Students will still need to be provided with a hands-on learning opportunity whereever possible. Demonstrations and initial practice can then be supported by students doing practice at off-campus facilities (in workplace, possibly at home etc.) Practice can be videoed and emailed to tutors for formative assessment. After several iteractions, formative assessments can also be obtained by students sharing their videos with each other. Student will need to be provided with support sessions on providing peer-feed back. Hopefully, the above will replicate some of the contact time that will need to be replaced with self-directed activities. Using the above will still ensure students are provided with opportunities for feedback, even when they are working independently and physically distant from tutors and class mates. Will have a chat with our elearning support team about ramping up Mahara for the sharing process as it will be an ideal tool to use.

The above may be supplemented in some specialised areas by the use of video analysis software, for instance silicon coach, which is easier to use than other specialised research analysis software. Discreet skills in programmes like circoarts (juggling, riding unibike etc.) may be improved using comparative software and especially where key kineasthetic motor skills need to be honed before students are able to move on to more complex and integrated skill sets. If ideas for using video eventuate, it will be good to evaluate the process using a formalised research / evaluative study. Will progress this further this week to see how well the idea aligns with current approaches to teaching practical skills.

eportfolios for VET - 16/10 afternoon sessions

Richard Wyles from flexible learning network in NZ speaking on "regional & sector eportfolios".
started with youtube video on eportfolios at solent university . myportfolio.schools.nz & myportfolio.ac.nz for tertiary are service for portfolios system based on Mahara. Detailed origins of Mahara & explained it's many goals including flexibity to accommodate a variety of models of learning, learner centred (learner decides what to add, who sees what etc.), personal learning environment, includes social networking for learner communities, has blogging tool, resume builder.

It is open source so has a strong developer community including peer support via forums, wikis, training content etc.original funds from TEC in NZ but has had $$ contributed from many other international institutions plus now supported by a host of Mahara partner. Also provided examples & listed ongoing development going on with the myportfolio platform.

Next up, eportfolios communities of practice;local, national & global - from Gillian Hallan, Queensland University of Technology. she spoke on how eportfolios COPs may assist each other in moving eportfolios forward across different sectors and into the future. Especially important as eportfolios move from early adoption into the mainstream. study undertaken to find out what eportfolios COP would actually need in the for of support & the attributes of a successful COP should have. findings from the Australian eportfolio project - report out oct. 2009
majority of eportfolios use in Australia are in the higher Ed. sector (70%) with only 10% in the VET sector. There is a strong need for COP to be available for the VET sector. In the study, most people wanted the COP to be used to share pedagogy, or disciplined based, assess technology / tools etc. needs of new & seasoned (over 2 years) eportfolio practioners differed. Seasoned practioners more interested in sharing ideas about 'resources'. critical success factors seems to be having a funded facilitator, member engagement and diversity of community activities. Main challenges were using the technology, facilitator workload and community engagement.

Virtual presentation from University of nottingham - Kirstie Coolin, Stuart Wood & Kat Wehrheim on eportfolios to support lifelong learning did not run due to problems with audio not getting through.

Last session of the day, eportfolios for lifelong learning: the benefits for Australia by Jerry Leeson from education.au Everyone should have a right to have a eportfolio. Presentation covered review of SICTAS report'eportfolios beyond education & training', better support for lifelong learners & the focus on the ACE sector.
SICTAS research reveals eportfolio used globally beyond traditional formal ed. including supporting workers facing redundancy, career development (careers wales & myfuture - Australia - www.myfuture.edu.au), workforce development & planning, continuing professional
development, lifelong learning, articulation of skills & experience & development of competencies in ICT.Not formal sector fit into industry or regional. Small number of large scale implementation exampled by careerswales,( www.careerwales.com )
netherlands (the future that works), nedcar , efolio minnesota ,europass.

How can lifelearn learning be recorded? especially for people who began their formal learning long before digital arrived. Is your digital evidence enough? does if show 'all of someone's learning? Web is not a good place for employers to be researching job candidates! dependent on what the intend of your web identity is. Challenges for lifelong learners & eportfolios include uncertainty about reflection (how, when, how much?) there might be multiple portfolios accumulated over time, stuff disappears before they are archived, ACE sector could be a potential user of eportfolios.

Allison closed the conference with where from here? We are in an era of innovation in order to meet the challenges of the future. where does learning happen, where we value learning, much of learning happens outside of formal learning, eportfolios need to be one way for people to collate the learning they undertake through their learning lives.

eportfolios at VET - Thursday 15/10

Arrived off an early flight across from Christchurch to Melbourne. Paul Levy picked me up at the airport & we commenced for a longish drive in the much needed rain to the Croydon campus of the Swinburne University of Technology. Here Terri Mathot had set up the conference centre for my lunch time presentation to staff on 'using technology to teach baking. Prentation went well, with about 40 -50 attending & many relevant questions fielded. My overall message was to start with something apppropriate to subject context & student profile & to gradually build on introducing ICT into enhancing student learning as required.

In the evening, the eportfolios showcase mix, mingle & network sessions bracketed the presentations by vendors of eportfolio platforms.

The presentations were on Concord, from eTech, Desire2learn, Mahara, Pebble Pad & Skillbooks
Mahara, Pebble Pad & Skill books were eportfolio focused platforms with the others being learning management systems with added eportfolios capabilities. Mahara & Skill books are open source.


All pretty much did the same things, allowing for archiving of artefacts, revision of material, areas to store reflections, possibilities for feedback from various interested parties and the ability to showcase the portfolios in a variety of ways to cater for intended viewer audiences.

Visually, Pebble pad stood out with a very clean, user friendly user system. Mahara had drag & drop capabilites & most of the others had standard browse your folders methods for bringing artifacts into the eportfolio.

Desire2learn had a mobile interface for phones, PDAs and ipods.
Most also had the option of putting in a template so that users could then pop in the required evidence into the right places. rubrics were possible for teachers & student reference so that students could work out the level of learning required to be reflected in their artifacts.


So a good opportunity to catch up on other people working on or intending to work on eportfolios. Also good to see what is available in the market for eportfolio solutions. There are inherent advantages & disadvantages to using proprietary software when some alternatives are available the aggregation of Web 2.0 tools. However, a structured eportfolios environment might be one way to get things started.


Learners & teachers, once familiar with eportfolios' capabilites may then be more confident with exploring other options for eportfolio collation & construction.

ePortfolios - direction and ways to use

Ray Tolley’ blog discusses the many issues which influence the how, why and what of using eportolios in education. He has summarised a google doc version of a summary of a mindmeister mindmap of work being done at Unitec in Auckland by Hazel Owens and the Centre for Learning & Teaching Innovation.

I am looking forward to touching base with Hazel later this month at efest in Palmerston North & next month at the eportfolios in VET showcase in Melbourne. I am hoping that the conversations with Hazel & many others will provide firmer direction for building a case for the use of eportfolios both for our tutors and for students. In particular, how we will set up the institutional eportfolio structure. Will we use Mahara or will we also promote the possibilities provided by cloud computing?

myPortfolios presentation

Attended a presentation and workshop by Andy Kirk (from the flexible learning network) on myPortfolios today. Myporfolios tertiary is based on the open source Mahara software. Mahara was developed via funding from the NZ Tertiary Education Commission's e-learning Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF), involving Massey University, Auckland University of Technology, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, and Victoria University of Wellington.

A good range of participants with about ½ from CPIT, TANZ & the secondary, primary and early childhood sectors. Andy went through a good overview including revealing the underlying pedagogical philosophy of myPortfolio as being Kolb’s learning cycle. myPortfolio accepts evidence / artefacts in the form of text and multimedia files and is linkable to blogs, flickr, youtube, rss feeds and social networking sites. Views can be customised for different ‘markets’ that the ePortfolio compiler requires. These views are made up of the artefacts that have been previously collected or linked to. Groups of users can also be networked via myPortfolio.

We all had a chance to have a good play with myPortfolio. In general, processes were intuitive although some of the page names would require tutorials with some students who are unfamiliar with how to upload material on to web based sites. myPortfolio was also visually pleasing to look at. View pages were well laid out and it was easy to move things around so that items were well organised and presented on the viewing pages.

Starting on mLearning pilot

Nick Ford & I put in a joint application to the CPIT Foundation for funds to run the mLearning pilot. Our bid has been successful, so it is now time to put our pilot plans in place.

As a forerunner, the local paper did a write up about the project. The main goals of the pilot are to test out the various parts of our mlearning project with a cohort of first year apprentice bakers. It will be a bringing together of all the things we have learnt thus far with the various trials reported on this blog.

A couple of interesting items which I will explore in the next couple of weeks before adding into the pilot as possible eportfolio repository alternatives are:-

• Comic Life (via Thomas Cochrane’s blog that points to Joao Rivera’s blog on using comic life to chronicle boat building
• Mahara, the NZ open source eportfolio site and
• Slideshare, since a few apprentices have started to use powerpoint for their year three portfolios on gateaux / torten and breads.
  

It will be exciting times ahead!

Book Chapter on Mlearning and the workplace learner

I have been invited by Dr. Mohamed Ally to contribute a book chapter to a book on ‘mobile learning in education and training’ to be printed by Althabasca University Press. The book chapter will essentially be an expansion of my paper submitted to the mLearn 2006 conference. It will centre on the use of mLearning with workplace learners and in the use of web based resources to compile ePortfolios with mobile phones.

Re-working the original paper has caused me to realise how quickly things move in mLearning. When I wrote the paper about 6 months ago, I was still working on Windows Live as a possible ePortfolio consolidation site. We have now moved on to evaluating personal portal 2.0 sites, with Vox & Multiply being the main contenders.
I intend to test out the use of Vox & Multiply with my full time students later this month to see how rigorous they are for the purposes of setting up ePortfolios.

We have also moved on with the integration of all the collection and collation into Moodle. This process has been interesting for the eLearning team as it provided them with an opportunity / excuse to tweak Moodle and to learn more about how Moodle is put together.

I have also had a chance to look into various other sources of information on ePortfolios, Web 2.0 and personal learning systems. On the ePortfolio front, the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), as part of their eCDF initiative, are putting in place a ePortfolio portal called Mahara. At the moment, Mahara is PC based and if the launched version is available in the next few months, I will be keen to trial it as a possible ePortfolio tool for our project as well. There is a good literature review that underpins the project which provides good background information on portfolios in general and case studies of ePortfolio use in education.