Created by:

Southampton Solent University

Narration: Leonie Webster, Animation: Karl Impey, Production: Roger emery, Samantha Moss & Barbara Lee

Script:

Welcome to Polygon Street where second year students Alex and Bella live while they study at university.

This is Alex. 

He has seen details of a scheme where he could get a paid industrial placement this summer and is determined to get one. He knows he has to write personalised application letters and so he has bookmarked some web pages on firms he is interested in.  However, everything feels chaotic and what he wants is some way to organise it all.  

He is trying to gather together copies of some assignments he’s done and notes on a presentation that might be useful for evidencing his skills. He’s got all sorts of stuff including reports & project work, his CV and his reflective journal.   

The good news for Alex is that his university has just adopted Mahara where all of his work, CVs and reflections can be kept in one place.   He can work on his letters and look at different ways to lay out his applications.   

This is Bella, Alex’s housemate.  

She thinks that Alex’s Mahara portfolio looks great and wonders if she can change the look and use it to help her to collate some of her ideas to get feedback from her project tutor. 

Bella’s course involves creating lots of visual media such as video, photographs, sketches and other art work.   Bella realises that these items can be stored in her e-portfolio just as easily as Alex’s written work and she can change the way it looks to make it her own. 

Items from her other online services can also be imported such as blogs, twitter feeds, forums postings, photos and videos. 

The Mahara e-portfolio gives Bella the freedom to display her work as she chooses. She can create different portfolio views for different purposes and allow access to these views to whomever she wants – her class mates, her tutors or others. 

She creates a view for her project tutor and sends him a private web link to that page.   The tutor can review the work in progress that Bella has sent him and leave her feedback and comments at the bottom of the page, giving her new ideas about how to improve her work. 

Alex has finished his applications and can now send bespoke Mahara e-portfolio views to his preferred work placements. 

Now that Alex and Bella have their e-portfolios up and running, they can keep adding to them throughout their time at university, knowing that their Mahara e-portfolio can be taken with them when they graduate.