21 April 2010, 10:30

Hello,

I collaborated at the iMoot 2010 as a presenter. I believe that the iMoot was  a success as well as a truly remarkable experience  (Julian Ridden is subscripted to this Forum, so he can comment on that better than me).  It also proved that the technology is now ready for a fully  web-based conference -even in Scotland :-).

Since we Mahara developers, translators and supporters are scattered all around the world, I wonder if it would make sense to have an online Mahara Moot, -something like the iMoot-, in which educators from all over the world could share their experiences, submit presentations, etc.

An online Mahara Moot would be affordable, convenient, participative, collaborative and most important: volcanic ashes-proof!

We could use Elluminate or DimDim as a video conference software, and maybe we could use some additional space at Mahara.org to host the conference site?. We used a Moodle site for the iMoot, but it would be debatable if the best website software for holding a Mahara event is a Mahara site

Would it make sense? Would any organization/university be interested in sponsoring the event?

Regards

Mari

21 April 2010, 16:44

Hi, a web conference is a great idea for Mahara ( a different name than Moot need though) - Mahara icon? Loads of potential.

cheers
Richard

22 April 2010, 6:27

Thanks for answering, Richard.

Our organization cannot provide any hosting space at the moment, as we are revamping our website. re-dimensioning servers, ect, but I would like to get involved definitively in organizing it.

I was told that "Moot" is the Saxon word for "meeting" or "gathering" as the first Moodle-Moot was organized by a Moodle English partner in the Midlands.

Maybe we can choose the maori word for "meeting" or something like that

22 April 2010, 18:51

Hi, we would also be happy to help in any way we can. Our site FolioSpaces.com is a small free Mahara provider already, which may be useful in some way. In my academic role at the University of Ballarat  (Australia) I would also be happy to help with the organisation of such an event. In terms of platforms for hosting an online conference, my (somewhat limited) experience has been that mashups work best, rather than locking in to one platform for ultruistic reasons. Moodle is a fantastic LMS but not a great web page. Dim Dim (and others such as Wiziq, illuminate etc) are good for synchronous presentations, Youtube for Async, Mahara obviously for portfilo presentations, PBWorks a fantastic wiki and so on. Probably a combination of  Wiki, Moodle and Mahara would be a great way to go. I am an absolute Mahara fan, and I am constantly amazed by the different ways people use it. That said, there are so many great free tools available on the web, an iMahara gathering may well be best served by a mashup. Not sure where the word Moot came from, but it has always conjured Lord of the Rings type images to me. Perhaps I am just getting conservative (heavens forbid) in my old age.

Regards, Ian Knox

28 April 2010, 12:06

Hi from Germany.. yes, there is definitely a MAHARA community in development in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (with Penny working in Switzerland as MAHARA ambassador ;-) ....I've been working with MAHARA for 4 years now- launching the MOSEP European funded project in Germany and since then struggling to get a broader accceptance for it in schools. I took part in the iMoot this year- was an amazing experience with so many brilliant people involved. I definitely think it would be a great idea to do an iMahara Moot (leave the word moot - people will know what it's meant to be)-  we would have the chance of presenting our experiences and work with MAHARA in an international exchange - on an educational level- there are lots of good practice examples all over the community!

I am with you!

Cheers

Sigi

30 June 2010, 7:31

Hi,

 

I was speaking with Julian Ridden the other day about the next iMoot wich I imagine will happen in early 2011.

I mentioned to Julian that perhaps we could make use of the free Streamfolio plugin trials for Mahara which also have a funky plugin ability in Moodle at the next iMoot.

More on that application here - http://www.edupov.com/streamfolio/streamfolio-free-trials/

I'll happily answer any questions and push along your login asap in you message me.

Cheers.

01 July 2010, 6:17

Thanks for let's us know, Alex. Did Julian say that we could have a sort of iMahara day as a part of the iMoot or a presentation event? Does Streamfolio support videoconferencing, like Elluminate or DimDim I was going to attend the Mahara UK 2010 and meet there some or the people interested in the iMahara, but I have to flight to Spain next week to help my family there. Regards.

01 July 2010, 7:57

Hi Mari,

Julian didnt detail what could occur....he was in transit and about to hop on a plane and I (unfortunately) only managed to get four sentences from him before he indicated he was about to get on the plane.

Streamfolio is an add-on or plugin facility whioch has the capacity to talk through LDAP, connect via both Moodle and Mahara assets repositories and provides:

1. Streaming live into a recorded video repository - any camera type
2. Upload other existing video - any file type including mobile
3. Re-encode and download recorded or uploaded material as .flv
4. Broadcast point-to-point
5. Save, broadcast and / or both
6. Full delete ( rewrite)
7. Re-edit meta data and descriptors
8. Share, replay.