Mahara

Hello,

I have been reading every one's ideas on the forum about whether Mahara could be useful in a Primary School setting. I hadn't really thought that much about it. I only put a shallow, not-very-well thought out response on my previous Blog and so went back on to Mahara to have a look around.

I wonder if the main problem in us having had difficulty in seeing this as a learning tool for younger children is because we were introduced to Mahara with the idea that it would be difficult. During the Residential School, people would whisper to each other - "Did you go to the Mahara session?" "Yes, but I still don't know how to use it.""I'm so bad with technology, I'll never learn this one." The uncertainty made Mahara seem like some dark, looming cloud, threatening to overwhelm us when we got to that part of the course.

If you have a good look around, you realise that it actually isn't particularly complicated at all. And it's a lot more than a storage device for resumes (another misconception because Scot said how perfect it was for that, and so many of us didn't take the time to think of further applications for it, because we always have so much to do with all the rest of the coursework anyway.)

Just a brief examination of Mahara, but with a mind open to the possibilities, showed me, at least, that it will be a wonderful tool even for the very young year levels.

There is, for example, categories for My Skills and My Goals. What a great way to get students thinking meta-cognitively about their learning. Get them to set their own outcomes for the curriculum. They can back up whether they feel they have succeeded along the way with examples (of their own choosing) highlighting the areas where they feel they show a mastery or an application of a particular skill. They can upload documents, scan pictures and worksheets and write their thoughts on the linked Blog.

You can't tell me that even six and seven year old chldren are not capable of deciding which of their works they are most proud of. We can explicitly teach habits of mind regarding where they want to be and what strategies they can use to get there. Young children: "We are going to think today about how we might keep going with something that we want to give up on. What do you do when you feel that something is too hard. What could you do to feel better about the task?" Put it on their Mahara goal list - 'persevere when things get tough' (young ones 'keep going when things get hard') and come up with a problem-solving task that will involve using the strategies we came up with. When they have succeeded they upload it as an example.

Personalised outcomes and class tasks that learners feel a sense of success in, will raise their estimations of what they can achieve. 'Look at my goal last month. I couldn't do that then, and now I can. When I put my next goal down, there's no reason why I can't reach that too.'

Mahara could also be used to put together every class member's individual Blogs and wikis, so that they are all easy to access from one location. Late primary students could write out resumes, including examples of work that exemplify certain skills, or show their capability at persisting at a piece of work.

It will be a valuable portfolio for both teacher and learner. The end result can be assessed, easily passed to the parent/guardian to communicate their child's results, and the student has complete power over what is being assessed. They can show off their skills and abilities. Things that they do at home, like classical ballet in their bedroom, can be recorded by Mum and they can put it on to show how they have interpreted the days topic of 'sadness' for instance, while another might upload a narrative, another a painting. All these can be done for any age level in primary school.