Mahara.

Hi All,
I haven’t been able to journal for a while as I have had a few internet issues, which isn’t the best thing when you are studying an ICTs course. I have been looking at Mahara over the past few weeks and every time I go to write about it, I seem to get writer block!

After thinking about Mahara and contemplating if I would ever use it beyond the scope of this course, I have concluded I would. Mahara is a sensational tool that almost anyone anywhere can use; including the students we are going to teach. From my perspective, I will use Mahara as a storage place for all of my course work I have completed during the GDLT. Moreover, I think it is a fantastic way to network with other teachers. For primary school teachers, teaching is seen as a ‘generalist role’, thus we have to be experts in every area- Maths, English, Science, HPE and the Arts to name a few. The reality is, we are not all experts at everything, in fact some will naturally be able to design lesson plans that flow and incorporate all the necessary elements in the Essential Learnings without difficulty for HPE. On the other hand, others who are more musically talented may struggle when designing HPE lessons and vice versa. Therefore, through networking with other learning managers on a website, such as Mahara, we are able to share lesson plan, ideas, professional opinions and seek advice.

Additionally, I see Mahara as a working portfolio. Mahara is a place where all assignments, lesson plans, feed back and any journal articles of relevance that have been collected throughout the years, can be stored in one handy location and without any trouble, can be located and accessed. The use of key words when storing materials, makes accessing all information easy and effective. Likewise, our students are able to do the same with any of their electronic work. I think it would be amazing for a student to be able to collect and store all of their work throughout the years in one location, from P-12. This would mean that if a student was to change schools, teachers would be able to assess their level of work and be alluded to potential learning difficulties well before it is to late. Moreover, students themselves are able to see their progression throughout their schooling career and have the ability to reflect on their own work. Parents and careers will also have the ability to see more of their child’s work because access to Mahara can also be done at home.

Overall, I think Mahara is an exceptional educational tool and I will be using it as a working portfolio and will be encouraging other teachers to do the same. It is not often that you can have access to all your study materials, assignment, lesson plans, resources and peer feedback at the click of a button.

Regards
Chloe.