Presentation by Alan Staley, Sarah King and Jon Curwin of BCU, delivered to an eportfolio workshop in Nottingham on 24th January 2012

1. Embedding Mahara at
Birmingham City University
Experiences of Two Early Adopters
Alan Staley, Sarah King and Jon Curwin

2. In The Beginning…
• 2004 Moodle
• 2007 Early thoughts about ePortfolios
- Me: Open University ‘My Stuff’?
- Employability/PDP staff: PebblePad?
- Faculty of Health: ePet?
-Use Moodle as an ePortfolio!
• 2008 Install Mahara and play

3. In The Beginning…
• 2009
- Presentation to L&T committee
- University-wide demonstrations/workshops
- Formal pilot in the Business School
• Further presentation to L&T committee and more
demonstrations/workshops
• 2010
- Gather requirements, pay Catalyst for developments
- No looking back!

4. CASE STUDY: The Law School
Getting started, developing and
embedding ePortfolios
Sarah King

5. Moodle? Mahara?
Wimba
Create?
Shareville?
Captivate on
line lecture?
Learning
Activity
Wimba Voice Design
Tools?

6. What Were Our Aims?
• To understand and meet the modern student’s expectations.
• To focus on ensuring that the student experience is of highest
possible quality.
• To use eLearning to develop new and more flexible modes of
learning to enhance the student experience, particularly in
relation to personal development and employability skills.
• Of the resources available to us we believed that Mahara
ePortfolios could help achieve these aims.

7. What Did We Do?
• Held a showcase event – demonstrated to colleagues the
opportunities that ePortfolios could offer;
• Held informal “coffee mornings” to brainstorm ideas that
could inform a strategy plan;
• Worked with CELT to identify resources we would need to get
plans off the ground;
• Drafted a strategy document with an action plan for
2010/11, piloting a number of new resources, but in particular
Mahara;
• Circulated the draft strategy for comment and approval and
finally adopted at School Development Day;
• Organised, with CELT support, training for every member of
the Law School in using Mahara.

8. The Roll-Out To Students
• A large scale pilot in 2010/11 – Mahara rolled out to over 200
first year law students;
• Students required to submit as part of their assessment an
ePortfolio demonstrating competencies in a number of areas,
evidence of reflective practice and the beginnings of
employability skills;
• ePortfolios submitted via an “assignment” in Moodle, marked
and electronic feedback given.

9. Student feedback
“I found that the initial “I like the idea of
understanding on how to personalising the on-line
create a view a little space. It is useful in that work
complicated and I needed a can be submitted from home
few attempts before I felt without the need to be at
confident in completing the university”
“I liked the fact that it
task”
is educational as well
as social, thus allowing
you to do things to do
with University and
“I believe Mahara is useful your friends at the “Quite worried about the
for selling yourself to same time” security, I’m not sure who has
potential employers that access to my profile as I’m
may want more than just a not sure how to adjust the
normal CV as it gives an settings”
insight into someone’s
personality more”

10. Lessons learned
• Staff need training and support!
• “Bottom up” adoption with management support seemed to
work for us as did a strategy for how we were going to
proceed;
• Don’t assume that our “Generation Y” students will find
ePortfolios easy! They need training too!
• Set clear guidelines on what is expected in an ePortfolio;
• Be prepared to be flexible, (things don’t always go according
to plan!);
• Don’t forget many students leave things to the last minute!
• Don’t underestimate the anxiety that waiting for electronic
submission of over 200 ePortfolios can cause!
• Have a strategy for what happens next.

11. Case Study: The Business School
Using e-Portfolios: successes, issues,
and wishes
Jon Curwin

12. What We Did
In Sept 2009 we used Mahara:
• With 500 first year students taking the skills module, Personal
Development
• With 19 groups and 13 tutors
• Individually assessed students using 4 Mahara views
(pages), one for the tutor, potential employer, Placement
Office and social view

13. The Risks
The risks of not using Mahara had to be argued:
• Continue with paper laden folders
• Continue risk adverse
• Miss an opportunity to develop digital literacies

14. Non-Issues
• Acceptance by staff and
students
• Marking

15. Issues
• Continued access to Mahara as a student and beyond
• Integration into the course (year 2, placement search, …)
• Addressing skills such as digital literacy and creativity

16. Wish List
• Achieve a continuing and more
reflective personal development
planning
• Integrate new digital literacies
with more use of voice, images
and video
• Submission of Mahara
collections rather than just
pages for Moodle assessment

17. Closing Comments
• Substantial Mahara activity now in all faculties
• Students beginning to ‘drive’ demand
• Need for a co-ordinated approach (not just academics)
Questions