Mahara is a digitised portfolio that allows you to put together artifacts including web logs, resources and examples of work, accomplishments and your resume using a multimedia base. Mahara allows you to control view access, receive messages and form groups. Therefore allowing on-line communities, networking and feedback when required. At it’s lowest use it can be a digital scrapbook or Curriculum Vitae - at it’s best it can represent our learning journey showing where we have been, where we are, and therefore where we need to go next as lifelong learners.
“Digital representation of self on characteristics of interest to a community” (Acker, 05)
For teachers, Mahara can provide a space to declare your teaching philosophy, courses taught (with resources attached), lesson plans and professional history. Due to the networking nature of eportfolios your peers can view your experiences and comment accordingly giving helpful feedback that allows you to revise your lessons or resources. This pedagogical revision can go around in a cycle to allow continual professional development (lifelong learning) and keep the three ‘R’s’ going - Representation, Reflection and Revision.
Mahara can be used by the teacher as a resource in the classroom giving students a choice of skill level entry (what does my student already know? LMQ1, Lynch 03), a choice of where to go (where does the learner need/want to be? LMQ2, Lynch 03) and a choice of multimedia styles (how does my leaner best learn? LMQ3, Lynch 03). The resource should have a grounding in a real life scenario, include collaborative work and peer feedback to encourage formative assessment, and therefore critical thinking and work enhancement.
When eportfolios are used as an outcome for students, this is where the question of assessment comes. If the portfolio is prescribed by the teacher, the artifacts included are set in content and time frame, the outcome scored on a rubric without reflection (summative assessment) then the learning experience is not learner centred and the assessment tool is OF learning. Assignments like these may be rushed through and little learning takes place. Yes, the students learn how to mechanically operate the Mahara software, but motivation is low.
If the portfolio task and artifacts produced are chosen by the learner, the time limit runs over a term or year, there is continual feedback and review with peers and teacher (formative assessment) and there is a chosen audience for the project - the experience becomes learner-centred, intrinsically motivated and can provide a resource for continual growth - lifelong learning. This is assessment FOR learning.
Mahara is an amazing digital tool that can encourage critical, creative and self-regulated thinking (Dimension 5 Dimensions of Learning, Marzano et al, 97) if used as a learner-centred tool.
“If we can begin to consider that the primary purpose for the portfolio is to provide a vehicle for each child to grow met cognitively and to demonstrate competence in telling the story of learning, the door is open for the child to assume ownership (Hebert, 01)” ((Barrett, 04 p2)
Of course Mahara is not the only digital portfolio available, but is designed with education in mind. To enable the positive use of such systems in the classroom and outside, we need a culture change. To progress we need strong training for all Learning Managers to understand the use and potential of eportfolios. The issues around setting standards to allow transfer between providers to be coordinated, clear understanding around intellectual property rights and a correct understanding about copyright and privacy settings.
This culture shift would be beneficial with achange in education itself to give the learner control of their learning and to develop the skills for those future jobs that haven’t even been made yet.
Warm Regards
Johanna
References:
Lorenzo and Ittelson (2005) “An Overview of E-Portfolios” http://www.educause.edu/ELI/AnOverviewofEPortfolios/156761
Acker, S. (2005), “Overcoming Obstacles to Authentic E-Portfolio Assessment,” Campus Technology Newsletter: Technology-Enabled Teaching/eLearning Dialogue.
www.campus-technology.com/news
H. Barrett (04), “Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning”.
http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/epstory.html
Marzano, R.L., % Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: A Teacher’s manual. Aurora, CO: McREL
Smith, R., Lynch, D. & Mienczakowski, J. (2003). "The bachelor of learning management (BLM) and education capability", Change: Transformations in Education, (6)(2): 23--37
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Hi Johanna,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying your blog immensely it is very different to mine. I have concentrated on reflection in my posts and have not referred back to the source of reflection where as you have. I am follower of your blog and am learning/recapping through reading your blog.
I agree an e-port folio is a good way for lifelong learning. I have to work more with Mahara to grasp all of what you have talked about in this blog but through reading this I already understand more.
Hasn't teaching catered more for diversity since ICTs. I know I'm happy about it being dyslexic myself:)
Thanks again.
Hi Johanna,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on the e-portfolio options for teachers to share their pedegogical frameworks, lesson information, teaching strategies and professional history. I certainly plan on keeping my e-portfolio in place from now on - something I can share with other teachers, with the hope of inspiring them to create their own in order to create a community of practice.
I certainly enjoyed reading your thoughts on using an e-portfolio for outcomes based assessment. If we implement the use of e-portfolios into our lessons for students we must consider why we are doing so, what is the learning outcome we are trying to achieve and whether it is teaching tool or whether it is something we wish to encourage for life long use.
If you have been reading many of my discussions about use of e-portfolios in primary schools I am still not completely confident it is an ideal tool to use. I certainly can see the benefits for older students to be using them and for teachers to use them as a record keeping tool - however the introduction of them to students at a young age is something I still am not 100% convinced it is the best tool to use.
Thanks for your thoughts
Sally
Hi Sally,
ReplyDeleteJust caught up on the forum. Read the link (H. Barrett (04), “Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning”.)
http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/epstory.html referred to in my references,\. It is an inspiring article. We as teachers should tell stories as should our students. The kids can make digital stories and slideshows from a young age (for example). If the eportfolio is used over the unit theme or year, the primary school student can build up their work as they go. Even scanning their best stories or typing them up. My son Max in grade 2 types his assessment stories onto the computer. You could even use it for the best case work so the student can see how they have improved over time just by flicking back at another view. Or you could just have their summative assessed pieces up there as your evidence of class achievment.
Can you imagine the kindy scrapbook online - this is a basic start and things can move onwards and upwards from there to become a journey for the young ones to choose what they upload and display and what they want or need to learn.
Is that clear?? Have a look at the article - really - it consolidates other frameworks we have learnt about too.
Are you convinced????
Cheers Johanna