Beginner's Guide to Mahara

I have reviewed a brand new book from Packt Publishing that is a very good beginner's guide to how t use Mahara 1.2. Mahara is an open source e-portfolio system coming out of New Zealand. Go to Mahara.org to learn more about it.

We are just finishing a pilot project at Mount Royal University using Mahara 1.2 as an e-portfolio and e-journalling system. I have been the lead on this project, which means I had to learn how to use the software fast. I found this book to be a great resource for an faculty and students that need to get up to speed on using Mahara quickly.

I like the book for the following reasons:

• It is an easy read. I have used several Packt books before to learn software and this one works very well.
• It has several examples, hints and tips that will help anyone get comfortable with Mahara.
• The book is also organized in a very logical way so it can be used a reference book for looking up how to use features when you need it.
• I really liked how it explained how to set up your views. This is probably the most challenging feature of Mahara to grasp, but the screen shots in the book are view useful.
• You can acquire the book electronically as a lower cost. E-books have the advantages that you can carry it around on your computer or USB drive and you can search the text electronically with the search function on your PDF viewer.
• There is also a demo site that you can use with the practice activities in the book if you don't have access to a Mahara site.
• For the techy people there are also appendices about how to plan to install and install Mahara.

If you are at all interested in learning more about Mahara, I highly recommend you acquire this book. Go to https://www.packtpub.com/mahara-1-2-e-portfolios-beginners-guide for more information about it.

If you would like to download a preview a sample chapter click here.

Rod Corbett

Using Games in Class

Games can be used for many aspects of teaching but they can be great for reviewing content. Here are a list of free web-based resources that will make it easy for you to create a game for doing a review activity.

• Parade of Games in Powerpoint - free templates for several types of PowerPoint games
• JeopardyLabs - create Jeopardy games without PowerPoint
• Novel Games - embed flash games in to your course pages.
• Five Free Crossword Puzzle Builders -
• Free PowerPoint Templates
• Free PowerPoint Games
• More Games Templates

Jeopardy Labs: Make Your Own Online Jeopardy Game

I just ran across this cool cloud-based tool. It is a website where you can create your own Jeopardy games to be used in class.

Jeopardy Labs: Make Your Own Online Jeopardy Game is a post about it but you can go directly to the website at http://jeopardylabs.com/ And if you don't what to build a template yourself, there are several there already to choose from.

Things I like about it:

• It is free to use,
• it is very easy to use,
• no software installation required,
• no registration required and
• you don't need PowerPoint.

Rod

Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time! (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE

Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time! (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE

Here is an interesting article that describes several very interesting ideas for creative innovations that we could implement at our institutions.

Many of the ideas are not new and focus on the value of collaborative learning and teaching. The authors do emphasize the importance of re-inventing our universities or they will become obsolete.

Check it out and post comments.

Rod Corbett

Give Away of the Day website

This is an interesting site. Everyday, they give away a software tool or utility that you can download install and try out. Check out at http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

All the offers I have seen so far are for Windows computers and it appears that you have to download and install on the "give away" day in order for the license keys to activate.

Rod