Richard Jones and Jill Margerison Mahara Hui in Wellington on 19 March 2014 https://maharahui.org.nz/course/view.php?id=2

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Mahara @ TSS
Strengths & Limitations
Richard Jones
eLearning Specialist
http://moodlenz.net
Dr Jill Margerison
English & History Teacher
http://tss.qld.edu.au
Presentation
• What should an ePortfolio do?
• How have we seen it used at The Southport
School?
• What do teachers/students see as the strengths
and limitations?

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ePortfolios – at least 2 purposes
Learning, reflection, social
engagement
• Feedback
• Support
• Engagement
• Self-monitoring
• Partnership
• Conversations
• Processes
Showcase, assessment, product
• Capability
• Success criteria
• Assessments
• Parental involvement
• Accountability
• Collections
• Products
Helen C Barrett, http://electronicportfolios.org/ &
Nick Rate (CORE) http://www.core-ed.org/about/media-releases/breakfast-seminars/why-use-e-portfolios-core-breakfast-seminar-nick-rate
Barrett’s 3 levels (evolution over
time)
• Level 1: Storage of artefacts (working space)
• Level 2: Workspace/Process (immediate
reflection/feedback)
• Level 3: Showcase/Product (mature
selection/reflection)

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Background – The Southport
School
• K-12 Boys
• Anglican
• Sporting Tradition
• Seeking to increase academic profile:
• Improved Higher Order thinking skills
• Using technology
More background here: http://elearningindustry.com/how-an-lms-and-byod-changed-a-school
Moodle/Mahara timeline at TSS
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Moodle & Mahara
introduced at TSS
“Work with the
willing”
Formal Mahara
training by Pukunui
Year of eLearning
Focus on many
types of PL
Mahara popular in
one or two classes
eLearning Leaders
Pedagogical
framework
Mahara take up
increased
BYOD
Large uptake in
Moodle 85%
increase
Mahara used for
Ideal Teacher
program
Moodle embedded
in practice – 200%
increase
Mahara also
growing steadily
8350 pages

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Mahara uptake – Year on year
20142013
March 2014
8350 Pages
March 2013
4380 Pages
Mahara has been grown
“organically” to avoid giving
teachers too much. too new.
too fast.
Gifted & Talented Log - 2010
Angela Foulds-Cook Year 10 optional course
– they keep a Digital Journal in Mahara
“Students wrote a lot more in the
diaries/blogs this year than last
although the quality was similar or
the same especially as compared to
hand-written diaries.”
Teacher comment midway through
2010
“I also seem to come home and want
to finish writing my blog so I can feel
good and think about what I will
write for my next one. I am really
looking forward to the next lecture.”
Student comment midway through
2010

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Interview extract – 3 years later
• Interviewer: Now, you were one of the earlier adopters of Mahara?
• D: Now, Mahara was really good. It was like a social networking site but
solely for our classroom. We could really engage with each other and
comment on each other's posts and have a look at what other people are
doing and their perspectives on certain issues. So, I found that to be really
interesting.
• Interviewer: During the class?
• D: Yes.
• Interviewer: You haven't used Mahara since then?
• D: I haven't used Mahara since then. But, I've noticed that a number of the
younger grades are really starting to switch to Mahara. My brother is
doing half of his assignments as Mahara assignments as well.

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Year 7 pilot – early 2010
• “I thought Mahara was a plus
because it's something like Facebook
and every one uses Facebook.”
• “The students did use, and were
motivated to use, Mahara but often
for things that were fairly trivial …
peer reflections were superficial.”
Student:
Teacher:
Mahara integrated - 2011
• Export options
from Moodle
• Pages as
assignments to
Moodle
• Teachers can
present a rich
resource page

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Project 52 – 2012 – Moodle &
Mahara
Honouring our Older Old Boys
who died in the First World War
(AC History Year 9)
Head of Humanities
Mr Rob Ritchie
Mahara in Mandarin - 2013
“it's pretty
easy to drag
in photos and
writing and
those things.”
“a bit more
easy than
writing messy
characters on
pen and
paper.“

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Student Voices
Mahara is easy to use – like a blog –
interaction with the teacher
Would rather work on the computer –
neater product
More comfortable
Can show your understanding more
easily
Josh, Ethan and
Ab on Mahara
Year 4 – explorers – 2012, 2013
Part of a written
research project.
The use of
Mahara was for
students to
experiment with
writing for a
different audience
in a different
medium.

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Collaborative learning English –
2014 – Dr Jill Margerison
• Students
contributed to
a Collection.
Each had
individual as
well as a group
page.
• “Co-writing
offers clear
advantages for
the learning
process*”
* Trentin, G, Using a wiki to evaluate individual contribution to a collaborative learning project, J Computer Assisted Learning, 2009
Collaborative Learning with Mahara
• “We worked with a novel study and asked students to work
in small groups to create a webpage using Mahara – embed
an original book trailer, poetry, letters and own evaluations
of the text. Also involve maps, RSS feeds and forums.”
• Jill reports that this:
• Enhances productivity, engagement and sense of ownership
• Allowed students to build a ‘website’ and authenticate the
learning process
• Encourages social learning – collaboration – the tool is easy
for boys to learn to use.

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Jill’s Viewpoint
• Collections and small groups – useful as it gives a
deeper dimension – more autonomy, less scaffolding.
More opportunity for student exploration, collation and
creation.
• Teacher response : “There has been a ‘buzz’ in the
classroom because the boys are making a product. This
is wonderful because the product is based on their
interpretations of a novel. Creating a website in
Mahara has given these teenage boys a sense of
accomplishment and inspired greater mastery in
technology, stronger connection with a literary text and
opportunity to develop collaborative learning skills.”
Ideal Teachers
• During 2013 Mahara introduced as a tool for teachers
• They reflect on practice via templates
• This is part of the Ideal Teacher program – which offers
financial incentives for teachers to stay in the
classroom.
• Hard to get solid data on how teachers see this process.

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In Summary
• Much work at Level 1 – going to Level 2 at times.
• Some evidence that work at Level 3 will develop this year.
• Used for reflective/process tasks; not yet for
presentation/product.
• TSS has gradually built up the capability to further develop
Mahara in the future.
• They would be ready should assessment move in this
direction.
Summary – Strengths of Mahara
• Boys and teachers find it easy to take up
• Promotes collaboration with groups
• Promotes autonomy in individuals
• In the future it could be used to showcase mature
work for parents or for assessment.
• Great for projects that involve analysing, creating,
collaborating, synthesizing information, evaluating
and presenting (Jill’s comment)

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Mahara, teachers say…
• Simple quizzes would be nice
• Like and other symbols for quick feedback
• HTML plugin confusing
• Forum setup is too hard
• Sub-groups of groups would be good.
• The term “clunky” is used by both teachers and
students in respect of the interfaces.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the AGQTP and ISQ for
funding in support of Moodle & Mahara
at TSS from 2010 to 2012.