02 August 2010, 16:34

Hello, two issues here.

First, I do not know what Qualification Type and Name are under Educational History for the Resume builder. I think one of the fields might be something like Associates in Arts, but should this represent my current goal, or what I already have?

Secondly, what is the difference in using the web interface first the client software? Are they just different ways to input the same info into a central database?

Thank you.

05 August 2010, 19:52

Hi Edward

Qualification Type would be something like Degree, Diploma - name could be the qualification name such a Bachelor of Commerce.

These fields are optional and you can fill in how you think is appropriate

The Qualifications should be what you have completed or are currently studying for - your future study would be better under the My Goals area.

The client software provides an interface to the web so I think theye are the same thing.

regards

Craig

08 August 2010, 21:05

Hello Edward,

What do you mean by web client software when talking about Mahara? Mahara only has a web interface and students don't need to install software to run it.

Or do you mean that you put information into the resume and would it show up in a portfolio view? All information that you put into the Mahara Profile can be used in any portfolio view. Therefore, it sits in a central space and is accessed from there.

Or do you mean anything completely differenty?

Cheers

Kristina

08 August 2010, 22:23

By the web interface, I mean using Mahara through a web browser (Firefox, IE, et. cetera).

On the upper right of Mahara's website, there is a link to Mahara 1.2, which is software that you could run on your computer. I wanted to know more about how this differs from the web interface.

08 August 2010, 23:29

Hello Edward,

That's an option that I had not thought of. Here is the gist:

The web site mahara.org should not be used for live portfolios as it is a community page and we do not give support for anybody who uses mahara.org for their live portfolios. If you want to try out how Mahara works, you should go to the demo site at http://demo.mahara.org

The download link you refer to is Mahara that you can install on your own server. There are a few providers who offer Mahara portfolio services, e.g. Foliospaces (http://www.foliospaces.com/) in the US (this is not an endorsement as I have not trialed their service; it's just an example!), for free or for a fee. With them, you do not have to install Mahara.

Otherwise, if you want to use it for yourself or with learners, you will always need to install it on a server / have your institution install it for you / your study program / your entire institution. Then from there it can be accessed anywhere.

Cheers

Kristina

10 August 2010, 18:00

Hi Kristina,

Foliospaces has been running for nearly two years now, so it has been a huge learning curve. I just wanted to correct one point; we are Australian based, not U.S. although we use servers in the U.S. and about half of our users are in the States.The rest are spread throughout the world, particularly Spain and UK but 72 countries total now.

We make enough money to keep running, but basically we are a free service, used mainly by educators for classes that want to reach beyond the tyranny of their institutional fire walls, restrictive IT policies, and enrolment issues. Mahara lends itself to cloud based hosting as it enhances all aspects of community. There is also a marked increase in non educational users, particularly from the health sector.

We are committed to open source, and are constantly amazed by the generosity of the Mahara community. Maraha has come a long way since 2007, and it is exciting to think where it will be in a couple of years time. For now, bugs still drive us nuts (for example no cursor in this text box!!) but that is the nature of all O.S. early on. The notification issues have been huge for us, as we see community as a major direction for ePortfolios. Without community users could just use a web page, blog, wiki etc for their portfolio.

Thanks also for your regular input and insights Kristina. You are always a welcome (one of the few!!) visitor to my email inbox.

Regards, Ian Knox
FolioSpaces.com

17 August 2010, 23:53

Hello Ian,

Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry to have put you on the other side of the globe. I guess, I should have looked at your username more closely. To be honest, I didn't find any information on the site about where your HQ is located. But that also doesn't mean that I should have Americanized.

Anyway, thanks also for your comments on the community. You'll be very happy about some of the bug fixes in 1.3: The cursor will be visible! you can already try it on http://master.dev.mahara.org/

If you run across bugs, please report them at https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+filebug

As you are the master of navigation in Mahara, you may want to check out Collections on http://master.dev.mahara.org/ because they are a way of putting a navigation block or horizontal bar into a view to link views to each other.

Cheers

Kristina