Mahara

Image courtesy of Mahara

Back in February, when I printed off the course profile for this subject, I read through the assignments and was apprehensive when I saw that we had to create a Mahara account . I had no idea what this was, but thought I would ask some of my friends, and they would be able to shed some light on the topic for me. I was mortified when they had never heard of a Mahara account before, I knew I was on my own using a new technology which was a very frightening concept.

When Mahara tutorials were offered (for 3 night sessions) on the first day of our Residential school I was relieved. I made it a goal of mine that I needed to know why we were creating the account, and what the assignment was actually asking me to do. I ended up going on Tuesday night and created my account, (without any hiccups like others were having). Then when I tried to create a view, I was hopeless. I continued on to the best of my ability, which was nearly nil, and had minimal success. After two and a half hours I felt a hundred times more apprehensive then when I went into the tutorial, which wasn't good. Back I went on Wednesday and, thankfully, the penny dropped! I knew what a 'view' was and what we were required to create. I left that room a new woman ... persistence had paid off!

I found out that it was an e-portfolio (a digital version of a paper portfolio), that provides you with many options including: blogs, resume building options, upload files (images, video, audio, text), embedding external blogs, forums, groups, creating a view. It brings with it many benefits such as making a portfolio of evidence that is sharable wherever there is internet access, which globalises its use. It is also referred to as 'the new generation of the ring binder.' (Mahara, 2009)

In this course I will be using it predominately to create a 'view', for a specific purpose,which will display a combination of videos, images, text files and (maybe this blog as an external blog). The view I will create will be for the purpose of delivering an assessment item to the lecturer. The amount of views you can create on Mahara is only limited by how much money you want to spend. It is $5 for 100mb, and further charges apply thereafter. You can keep all your views private, or select the friends you choose to share them with. Views can also be shared by emailing a secret URL number for your view.

It is a great 'tool' for the learning manager to have in their toolkit because it has value both inside and outside the classroom. I have seen it be used, outside the classroom, to inform others, (via emailing a secret url number) of the individual's intentions to travel to their particular area and also contained his resume, in case of any casual work that may be available. Units of work can be displayed on a Mahara view to showcase your skills to future employees ... there are many possibilities. A forum discussion, with colleagues in my course, provided other uses for Mahara outside the classroom highlighting the potential 'digital scrapbook' element of Mahara where parents can scan and store examples of their children's masterpieces (paintings, writing etc) without having to keep heaps of papers. They can then easily pass these on to their children later in life.

I can also see Mahara being of use inside the classroom. It would most likely be used in the higher grades, because it can prove quite difficult to use. It could be used to provide units of work for the students, provide assessment pieces, with relevant websites for research included, and I'm sure many others will be discovered when I become more familiar with it.

Mahara allows active learning to occur, a level of learning resulting in retention and transfer of knowledge, which occurs most efficiently through concrete activity-based experiences because it involves input, processes and output. (Active Learning Online, 2000)

It is a user-centred, personalised learning space allowing the user flexibility to present their work however they choose, to the world. It ties in with one of the key tenets of personalised learning, that students become key partners in the design of learning tailored to their needs.(Mahara, 2009)

Some ways I can see Mahara being used in the classroom, with my limited knowledge at this point in time, are: for collecting students work and reflections, presenting assessment pieces, recording and showcasing achievements, maybe even making a unit of work available to the students with the websites required for research. It could also be used to send samples of students work home (via the secred URL number in an email) to the parents to view if they have queries, or send to other schools if the student transfers. I'm sure as I actually use this tool more, there will be many uses for Mahara in the 21st century classroom.

On that note, I probably should go and keep practicing on creating views in my Mahara account to see if I can 'form a habit', and form views quickly and effectively (as opposed to struggling aimlessly along at a very slow pace!).