Information about Mahara

After an enquiry about whether it was possible to share files directly from Google docs in Mahara I did a bit of research.

It appears that you can share a link from Google Docs as a hyperlink in Mahara, and if you are already signed into any of the Google suite (ie Google Reader, Google Mail/Gmail etc) it will take you directly to the shared document, ready for you to edit or comment upon.  You will however, need to give the user access to the Google Docs file beforehand ie the owner will need to 'share' the file first.  If you don't first of all share the Google Docs file, the link will open up the document as a HTML (non-editing) page.

Here is an example using an old "Innovations Task List" I created in Google Docs a while back. 

 http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dcd255wp_0qxmksjf2&hl=en

If I have shared this document with you (by invitation in Google Docs) then you will go directly into the document.  This will enable you to edit the document and save it.  This is great for collaborative projects ie writing a paper or application.  If you don't have 'shared' access in Google docs you will see the document as a web page. 

This means you increase the amount of storage you have to support your e-portfolio ie by leaving the documents in Google Docs - which supports about 7 gig of storage.

Or alternatively, the collaboration and editing can occur in Google docs, with the final 'polished' version uploaded to Mahara. 

This makes perfect sense when you don't want to save EVERYTHING in Mahara, only the polished items worth keeping and/or sharing.  The version uploaded into Mahara can be in Word or PDF, Text, HTML etc.

I previously wrote about how Google Docs is a good secondary storage space for an e-portfolio. 

Originally I thought that Google Docs would have the same about of storage as my Google Mail account ie 7+ Gb, however, in a recent discussion with a colleague I was told that it was only 10 mb.

So I did some investigation (with the help of Twitter - @taliacarbis) and discovered the following: 

Getting to know Google Docs: Size limits - In a nutshell

Mahara has a terrific online community of practice at Mahara.org.  This space allows people interested in Mahara to ask question and share information.

My Mahara friend and VET SA E-portfolio (Mahara) service host, Leo Gaggl, knew I was interested in influencing the Mahara Community to actually make the 'tag' function in Mahara work, and tweeted me about the

Roadmap & Funding - Tagging & Searching

discussion forum - http://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=843#post4728

Tags have far reaching benefits for education and training and enable people to pull together information related around a particular topic (ie unit, module, subject), making tracking what a topic/project so much easier.

Tags are a great way of 'finding' and 'managing' information, and the Tag Cloud helps 'paint a picture' about a person.

I've been encouraging people to use the tag facility in Mahara, in hope that when it does work, they will have a powerful tool to search and share their information.

It would also be great to have an RSS function out of Mahara on these tags and/or an RSS function on tags into a 'view' to improve the way people share information (as a push technology).

Wednesday 26 August.

Mahara also has a great discussion forum for educators around Pedagogy.

This forum allows teacher, trainers, lecturers, educators (whom ever) to ask questions about how they can use Mahara e-portfolio (rather than the techies who manage the installation of Mahara) or how Mahara works.

Please note that you will need to be a 'member' of the Mahara.org to be able to comment & contribute.

26 August 2009