Well I set up Mahara today and wasn't that a drama. There's so many buttons everywhere that all do different things. I tried to get involved in the example videos but just ended up getting myself more lost :(
Engaging younger students in Mahara could be difficult. There isn't really much of a need for Prep students to use Mahara and would probably be more time consuming then anything.
Alternatively, Mahara could be used for high schoolers or late primary school students. By students creating a Mahara account, they could have individual pages for each subject they are involved in and even get started with setting up their resumes for future employers.
High school students would be classified as digital natives and by providing them with an authentic focus (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1998) of how they can use Mahara for their future employers will engage students and increase student motivation and satisfaction.PRO'S -
- Engages students with authentic focus
- Future employers can gain access to students e.Portfolio's
- Different views for everything you are involved in
CON'S -
- Difficult to get started on
- Time consuming
- Difficult to explain
USES IN THE CLASSROOM -
- High schoolers can create a view for each different subject
- Schools can use it as an online yearbook
- Use for assignments
- Use to show videos that have been prepared for students
Grace xx
Grace, you came up with some great pro's and con's for using Mahara. I also set up my Mahara site, that was easy enough, then looking at it today was quite confusing (too many tabs and buttons). I also thought Mahara would be great for high school students, and not very relevant to primary aged students. The possibilities of uses is endless, we just have to be creative and find something students will find interesting and fun. I think they would enjoy adding pictures and videos and other interactive tools of their choice. I can't wait to work out how Mahara works.
ReplyDeletecheers,
Bronte