18 September 2013, 4:22

After a Mahara user leaves his or her institution, how can they take their Mahara ePortfolio with them. I am aware of the Export function but I was wondering if there is any way for a person to create a Mahara account outside of their institution and then backup and restore their institution materials into one that is outside of their institution.

I work at a large state university and one of the features everyone asks for in choosing an ePortfolio system is portability.

Thank you!  :-)

18 September 2013, 15:29

Hello Chee,

There are a few providers who offer hosting of personal Mahara portfolios. See http://groups.diigo.com/group/everything-mahara/content/tag/hosting for an incomplete list. Students would export their portfolios and ask the admin of the site they want to join to import it. From Mahara 1.8 on, users will be able to import their own portfolios.

Some universities also opt for the possibility to keep the student portfolio alive on their system so as to stay in touch with the alumni.

Cheers

Kristina

19 September 2013, 1:02

Hi Chee,

 www.portfoliocommunities.com which is one of the sites on the list Kristina is referring to, receives about 2 of those requests per week from Universities. Feel free to try and spread the word. The turn around time is usually 24-48 hours for the accounts to be imported.

20 September 2013, 7:48

Thank you Kristina and Dirk. This is helpful. I can see that this will be an issue for anyone as PORTability is part of the point of a PORTfolio! 

Thanks again!

20 September 2013, 13:25

Hello Chee,

Though with Mahara at least you can export your portfolio and re-use it.

It's not the fault of the software if an institution restricts the use of the portfolio site to the student's time at the university. It is always possible to allow students to continue using the existing site (either for free or for a fee) thus avoiding the issue of having to export it.

Cheers

Kristina