Mahara – Hochschule München’s e-portfolio
The e-portfolio software ‘Mahara’ is a personal learning environment in which both students and lecturers can customise their learning and working environment to organise knowledge and share it with others. Various digital media and services, such as photos, videos and PDFs, can be integrated, and social networking functions can be utilised. Mahara supports the entire course of study or teaching career and can therefore be used as a development or presentation portfolio.
Once you have completed your studies at Hochschule München, you can take your portfolio with you and easily import it into any Mahara instance. The central idea behind an (e-)portfolio in education is to reflect on and comment on the content you have collected, and to have it assessed by lecturers where necessary. This makes the individual learning process visible and traceable, enabling weaknesses to be systematically addressed and strengths to be developed. The aim is to strengthen self-organisation and promote the development of skills through self-directed learning.
Possible applications
Depending on the educational approach, there are various ways in which it can be used. For example, Mahara can be used as a portfolio during the orientation phase of a degree programme to help students find their feet in everyday university life, or during the process of choosing a specialisation – with the support of a mentor, if necessary, to reflect on their future academic path. Mahara is also suitable as an application portfolio for presenting oneself to future employers or for showcasing future work outcomes. The name Mahara is derived from the Maori language and means ‘thought’ or ‘thinking’. It thus places the emphasis on reflection, which enables deeper learning in all usage scenarios and fosters the sustainable development of knowledge.
In addition to personal use, the e-portfolio software can also be used for group work and communication. For example, it can be used to support project work and easily share results with any external project partners.
If you would like to read more about the various use cases and types of e-portfolios, you will find descriptions of the different types and some practical examples on the website at https://mahara.hm.edu.
The team at the E-Learning Center at Hochschule München offers training courses on Mahara as well as personal consultations. The official Mahara manual will also help you find your way around. In addition, we have provided some tips and external guides for you to access once you have successfully logged in. If you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to contact us via the Helpdesk!
Get to know the Mahara e-portfolio software
Find out more about e-portfolios in our four explanatory videos (in Mahara/access via your university account).
