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In the first video we learned the difference
between a Learning Management System and a Personal Learning Environment.
In this video, we’re going to learn about a system
called Mahara. Mahara
is often referred to as an open source
ePortfolio, although it does function much
like a Personal Learning Environment. In this video,
we will explore Mahara as a Personal Learning Environment.
First of all, Mahara is user centric. The system puts
you squarely at the middle of the system, rather than putting
an institution at the center. It allows you to determine
the content as well as who you will
share it with, when you will share it
with them, and whether or not
they can contribute back to you.
Let’s look at this a bit more on the specifics.
You determine the content
and there are plenty of types of content you can create or
add.
You determine who you will share what content with
including the general public, specific individuals
inside or outside the system, or even groups of individuals.
And you determine whether they
can provide commentary and feedback, and if so
how.
Another characteristic that qualifies Mahara as a Personal Learning Environment
is your ability to access services from all over
the web within your Mahara space. This is an example
of a personal dashboard, something for you
by you. The dashboard can include RSS
Feeds and other content from all over the web
Mahara is a highly
collaborative environment. These are just some of
the exterior programs that you can embed in
Mahara.
When you create pages in your portfolio, you can add a
number of resources from outside the system. It’s your choice
You choose which ones you will use and which ones
you won’t.
You can allow others, even those outside the system, to contribute
You select the kind of feedback, and you can add the ability to
individual pages and even individual content items.
You can monitor the feedback and choose which to share
and which to keep private as well.
Mahara can even connect
to a Learning Management System, allowing you to send your work
in the Learning Management to your portfolio, and to send
content from your portfolio to the Learning Management System.
When you send content from the Learning Management System to your
portfolio, it allows you to keep it, reuse it,
and share it any way that you want.
The key components of a Personal Learning Environment
and Mahara are that you manage your own data,
you manage your own connections, and all access goes through you.