{"id":1215,"date":"2014-10-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/24\/using-mahara-for-social-learning\/"},"modified":"2023-01-31T13:03:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T01:03:31","slug":"using-mahara-for-social-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/24\/using-mahara-for-social-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Mahara for Social learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mahara is an ePortfolio in which the default for all stored information is private.\u00a0 It makes a great \u201cwalled garden\u201d for introducing students to the concepts of social and mobile networking as well as being a great learning tool for individuals and groups. The tool is seen by teachers and students alike as intuitive and easy to use.<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Introduce via \u201csocial presence\u201d<\/h2>\n

One of the first things to do is to show students the profile fields (on the Content tab of the home page).\u00a0 Here teachers can\u00a0stress such things as persistence of social data, appropriate choices when making descriptions and selecting screen names. Clicking your name at the top right of the screen will bring up the profile screen where students can request friendship with other students and write comments on their wall.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Make use of the Journal<\/h2>\n

\"\"A point to remember is that Journal entries don\u2019t have to be like private diaries and they don\u2019t have to be long entries.\u00a0 You could even use the Journal as a Twitter styler blog \u2013 140 characters reflections on the day\u2019s work.\u00a0 Journal entries can be tagged and they can be placed on a personal page or a group page. Taking 5 or 10 minutes every day to write these entries will instil good habits and consolidate learning.\u00a0 Looking back over a period of work will enable students to see their progress.<\/p>\n

3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use Mobile uploads<\/h2>\n

There are photo upload apps for both iOS and Android devices.\u00a0 These allow students to record their work, store photos in their files area which they can then use on pages.\u00a0 Students can also record videos with their mobile devices and this can provide another way to promote reflection. A video, made by students following completion of a topic, can help them reflect on progress and reinforce collaboration and teamwork.<\/p>\n

4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Create web pages<\/h2>\n

\"\"Once a page has been created, other students can be allowed to comment, at the discretion of the page owner.\u00a0 The student may moderate comments before they are posted which leaves them in control.\u00a0 Pages can be tagged and can include external sources, such as RSS feeds, Google Docs and Open Badges. \u00a0These are in addition to student created artefacts like text files, image galleries and profile fields.<\/p>\n

5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Encourage teamwork<\/h2>\n

The teacher can set up a class group easily in Mahara.\u00a0 The software also includes Collections \u2013 or groups of pages that are linked.\u00a0 One use of Mahara with small groups is to create Group Collections which have a main page and individual pages linked together.\u00a0 Each student has their own working space (which may be used for assessment if required) but collaborate on the Group Page. \u00a0The teacher can also see what individuals have produced as well as the group.\u00a0 Students can plan their pages offline using large sheets of paper, for example. Mahara has proved itself to be a user-friendly and versatile tool to encourage engagement in the classroom and to teach 21st century skills.<\/p>\n

Acknowledgements<\/h2>\n

Richard would like to thank colleagues at The Southport School ion particular Dr Jill Margerison for providing screenshots and information on the use of Mahara in English teaching. Richard Jones is a consultant living and working in New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mahara is an ePortfolio in which the default for all stored information is private.\u00a0 It makes a great \u201cwalled garden\u201d for introducing students to the concepts of social and mobile networking as well as being a great learning tool for individuals and groups. The tool is seen by teachers and students alike as intuitive and easy to use. 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Introduce via \u201csocial presence\u201d One of the first things to do is to show students the profile fields (on the Content tab of the home page).\u00a0 Here teachers can\u00a0stress such things as persistence of social data, appropriate choices when making descriptions and selecting screen names. Clicking your name at the top right of the screen will bring up the profile screen where students can request friendship with other students and write comments on their wall. 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Make use of the Journal A point to remember is that Journal entries don\u2019t have to be like private diaries and they don\u2019t have to be long entries.\u00a0 You could even use the Journal as a Twitter styler blog \u2013 140 characters reflections on the day\u2019s work.\u00a0 Journal entries can be tagged and they can be placed on a personal page or a group page. Taking 5 or 10 minutes every day to write these entries will instil good habits and consolidate learning.\u00a0 Looking back over a period of work will enable students to see their progress. 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use Mobile uploads There are photo upload apps for both iOS and Android devices.\u00a0 These allow students to record their work, store photos in their files area which they can then use on pages.\u00a0 Students can also record videos with their mobile devices and this can provide another way to promote reflection. A video, made by students following completion of a topic, can help them reflect on progress and reinforce collaboration and teamwork. 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Create web pages Once a page has been created, other students can be allowed to comment, at the discretion of the page owner.\u00a0 The student may moderate comments before they are posted which leaves them in control.\u00a0 Pages can be tagged and can include external sources, such as RSS feeds, Google Docs and Open Badges. \u00a0These are in addition to student created artefacts like text files, image galleries and profile fields. 5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Encourage teamwork The teacher can set up a class group easily in Mahara.\u00a0 The software also includes Collections \u2013 or groups of pages that are linked.\u00a0 One use of Mahara with small groups is to create Group Collections which have a main page and individual pages linked together.\u00a0 Each student has their own working space (which may be used for assessment if required) but collaborate on the Group Page. \u00a0The teacher can also see what individuals have produced as well as the group.\u00a0 Students can plan their pages offline using large sheets of paper, for example. Mahara has proved itself to be a user-friendly and versatile tool to encourage engagement in the classroom and to teach 21st century skills. Acknowledgements Richard would like to thank colleagues at The Southport School ion particular Dr Jill Margerison for providing screenshots and information on the use of Mahara in English teaching. Richard Jones is a consultant living and working in New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"vkexunit_cta_each_option":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,33,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elearning-perspectives","category-portfolio","category-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1215"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1271,"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions\/1271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesnz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}