06 June 2009, 13:05

 we have Moodle at college can soemone tell me the difference between Moodle and Mahara what is the advantage of using Mahara and what are the disadvantages.  doing PGCE using it for research essay, thanks if you can help or point me to any research on it in terms of curriculum development. feedback and assessments 

06 June 2009, 13:16

Hi Jocelyn,

i read a tweet about your topic a few days ago; the answer was something like tihs:

moodle=lms=teachercentric   mahara = ePortfolio studentscentric

This is the big difference. Mahara has many advantages to do portfolio work, no disadvantages at all 

Martin D. tells on the German moodlemoot: moodle and mahara are like sister and brother

PGCE ? please explain; feel free to ask details ;-)

HTH Heinz

06 June 2009, 14:13

Hi thanks for replying so quickly.  PGCE is Post Graduate Certificate in education.  I have to look at areas such as Moodle for curriculum development looking particularly at feedback and assessment.  I am still new to Moodle which we use thinking I could learn it quickly but so much work on.  I have been looking for research through VLE's can see in general but not specifically that area can you help.

07 June 2009, 2:24

Hi,

Mahara offers in the actual version only a feature to submit a view for assessment, but there are no ways to grade it. No rubrics or similiar features. The focus is to offer a cool tool for portfolio work.

Heinz

11 June 2009, 5:51

Hi jocelyn,

I work at a university that uses Moodle for its VLE and we are currently looking into using Mahara for the e-portfolios.

Heinz is right - Moodle is looked after by support staff and lecturers- they can upload course notes, lecture slides, provide areas for students to collaborate on projects, set homework, upload assignments etc. 

Mahara is for individuals to use to record their achievements, gather data, present work/evidence for a qualification. It can also be used to promote themselves to prospective employers or to wherever their next stage of education is be it further or higher education.

Below is a link to a demo page I put together for our staff and students to look at that shows an interactive CV that could be sent to employers:

Click me

Hope this helps? Good luck with your PGCE - I finished mine two yrs ago - HARD WORK!

Sam

02 July 2009, 5:42

Hi Sam

I loved your demo page. I work for a charity that supports people back to work and one of the ways we are hoping to be able to use Mahara is as a way of getting CVs to employers. I have only just started using Mahara, so I hope my question makes sense! Was your demo page created as a view or is it 'Daisy's' profile?

 Thanks

Caitlin

27 June 2009, 1:29

Hi Jocelyn,

I am undertaking Mahara with graduate and undergraduate students. I would agree with the other posts on the differences of Mahara and Moodle. Though one fellow faculty is using Moodle as a portfolio development area by have each student operate their own course area.

There is a lot of research on electronic portfolio's less so on Mahara. That's what I am doing through my education faculty at the moment. 

Anyway feel free to contact me for more discussion or information.

best

tim