This document discusses Mahara, an open source eportfolio software, and its uses. It presents on Career Portfolio Manitoba, a nonprofit initiative using Mahara to help Manitobans with lifelong career development and employment purposes. The "Mahoodle" concept combines Moodle and Mahara by allowing items from Moodle courses to be exported to a Mahara eportfolio. The presentation covers features of Career Portfolio Manitoba, next steps like open badges and a skills marketplace, and a wishlist for improving the user experience and interoperability of Mahara.

1. Career Portfolio Manitoba
Mahoodle
with Mahara on Top
MoodleMoot Vancouver
February 13, 2013

2. Learning Agents
Accelerated learning systems
E-learning resources & services
Learning community support
Consulting
http://bit.ly/DonPresant_ePortfolio

3. Agenda
1. About Mahara and ePortfolios
2. Career Portfolio Manitoba
3. Mahoodle configuration
4. Next steps / On the horizon

4. Mahara ePortfolio
Overview
• From NZ to the world
• Free Open Source Software (FOSS)
– Free (like a puppy)
– Controllable, predictable
– Extendable, “clusterable” (Moodle, Google Apps…)
• Flexible
– Digital storytelling machine, not a “tick box”

5. Mahara ePortfolio
Under the hood
• Content Archive
– Profile, Resume, Files, Notes, Journals (blogs), Plans
• Pages, Collections
– Different content for different audiences
• Embed external content (Web 2.0)
– LinkedIn, Slideshare, YouTube, Google Apps, etc.
• Groups and collaboration
– Shared files, pages, collections
• Multi-layered sharing/privacy

6. ePortfolios for K-12
MyPortfolio, New Zealand
• 1,125 schools, 40,465 active accounts, 7,525 groups
• Built on Mahara

7. What is ePortfolio?
http://www.slideshare.net/4nitsirk/mahara-open-source-eportfolio-application

8. Personal Planning and Learning
Online Locker, Interactive Workbook
• Online archive
– Personal & downloaded documents, links
• Resources for self-directed learning
– Webinars, videos, self-assessment surveys
• Learning plans and tracking tools
– Set goals and track progress to them (Learning Plans)
– Keep records of learning activities over time (CPD)
• Personal journal
– Reflect on goals and alternative futures
– Keep ad hoc “notes to self”, prepare agendas, etc.
• Ongoing Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
– “Continuous Learning Environment”

9. Employment & related purposes
Demonstrate, assess & improve Human Capital
• Qualification Recognition
– Initial, formative, summative assessment
• Academic recognition
– PLAR/RPL for courses and programs
• Career Development
– Gap analysis, exploration of alternatives, building pathways
• Employment (Web CV)
– Hiring, career advancement, team building tool for employers
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
– Tracking ongoing learning activities and reflection on practice
– Recertification

10. Lifelong, lifewide
Before AND after getting the job
• Pre-employment
– Becoming employable, getting hired
• Workplace development
– Skills development, performance management,
career advancement
• Continuing Education, CPD
– Recognition of Prior Learning, challenge for credit
– Add credentials
– Regulated occupations
• Knowledge portfolios, Life portfolios

11. Career Portfolio Manitoba
Community-based ePortfolio
• Nonprofit partnerships of Government,
Business and Labour
• WEM: workplace education in Essential
Skills
• WPLAR: workplace Recognition of Prior
Learning
wem.mb.ca
wplar.ca

12. Vision for Career Portfolio Manitoba
Lifelong career development
• All Manitobans
• Learner owned
• Personal and public purposes
• Lifewide: home, community, school, work...
• Based on (not restricted to) Essential Skills
• Built through partnerships of stakeholders, with
WEM and WPLAR as “anchor tenants”
• Globally aware, locally relevant

13. Conceptual View
Core capabilities, evolving connectivity
LinkedIn
Profile Picasa
YouTube
Résumé
Slideshare
Journals
Networking
Notes GoogleApps
Pages
Pages
Files
Plans
CPD
My Learning
Twitter
?
Leap2A
Export
Blogger

14. The “Mahoodle” concept
INSTRUCTOR LED
Export artefacts
(learning products)
Single Sign On
Submit for recognition
Links to artefacts & views;
assignments, evidence for outcomes
USER DRIVEN

15. Moodle to Mahara
• Items which may be exported to portfolio
– Assignment submissions - single and multiple file
uploads
– Chat sessions
– Database activity module entries (##export## tag
may be added to list and single templates)
– Database activities
– Forum posts
– Glossary entries

16. Mahara to Moodle
• Mahara Portfolio Assignment
– Not supported beyond 2.2

17. Mahoodle with Mahara on top
First Login,
Intake Form
Course Introduction
Questionnaires
Self-Directed Pre-Course Self
Course Assessment
Post-Course Self
Assessment
Course
Lifelong Feedback
ePortfolio
Certificate

18. Career Portfolio Manitoba
Featured elements
• Portfolio building course
– Video tutorials, support
• Extensive use of Web 2.0
– YouTube, Screenr, LinkedIn…
• Templates and examples
– Pages (soon collections)
• Job Match Summary
– Fictional exemplar
– Growing gallery of real examples

19. Next Steps & On the Horizon
• Self-directed online course
• Encourage Mobile
– MaharaDroid, PortfolioUp
• Encourage Google Apps
– More robust in Mahara 1.6
• Open Badges
• Extending Mahoodle?
– Learning Commons
• Skills marketplace

20. The Open Badges Initiative
Accessibility and transparency
Richard Wyles, Totara LMS at MaharaUK12
http://maharauk.org/mod/resource/view.php?id=117

21. On the horizon
Open Badges

22. Metadata
• Who was the Issuer?
• Issue date
• Brief description of how badge was earned
• URIs to artefacts, testimonials etc.
– i.e. the e-portfolio
• Web service for verification.
– “Did the Issuer issue the badge?”
– “Is it still valid?”

23. Moodle as Issuer, Mahara as Displayer
Technical Deliverables Overview
1. Rewrite Certificate module, dispense Open Badge PNGs
instead of PDF files.
2. Web service approach (using Moodle‟s web services API) will
enable any displayer to verify badges issued by a specific
Moodle site. (including social media).
3. Create a new block for Moodle that users will be able to
place badges on their profile page.
4. Use the Moodle Portfolio API to push badges to Mahara.
5. New Mahara blocks display either a single badge or a
collection of badges. New portfolio „artefact‟ will be created
so that PNG files that have badge metadata will be
identified as badges (and available to be selected by the
new block).
6. Verification – separate library, permissive license (e.g.
Apache v2)
Source: In alpha as of Feb 8, 2013!
Richard Wyles, MaharaUK12 https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=197834

24. Learning Commons
Extending Mahoodle
Courtesy Golden Hills School Division

25. Skills marketplace
“Finnishing School”

26. Wishlist
• UI/UX
– Mahara Wizards?
– Direct editing
• Like Notes blocks now – precedent?
• 1.6: direct journal entry
– Flexible theming – more power to the user
– Accessibility
• More dynamic interoperability
– Making use of Web Services?

27. careerportfolio.mb.ca
don@learningagents.ca
Twitter: @donpresant
(SIMILAR) PRESENTATION SUPPORT PAGE
bit.ly/ep4work