Kineo Announces 1000th School now Using its E-Portfolio Service in New Zealand
Kineo Pacific is delighted to announce that there are now 1,000 schools using MyPortfolio, the e-portfolio and social learning platform available free of charge to all New Zealand schools.
"The uptake is phenomenal. To our knowledge, a nationally provided e-portfolio and social learning network for schools is a world first," said Kineo Pacific Director, Richard Wyles.
MyPortfolio is a nationally available e-portfolio cloud service that runs on the open source e-portfolio software, Mahara. Mahara is one of the world’s most popular e-portfolio systems.
E-portfolios provide learners with an easy way of recording their learning experiences, achievements and evidence of learning. Learners who have used e-portfolios report having a greater awareness of their skills, greater confidence in their abilities, and feeling more independent as learners.
Learners today often create and use digital content. E.g. videos, audio clips, stories, photos, learning reflections, assignments, and other learning materials they source or create. Being able to easily link and integrate all these resources into a portfolio enables learners to create their own personal learning space in a safe and nurturing environment.
“MyPortfolio’s learning space has similar functionality to the most popular of social networks so the learning curve is minimal”, says Richard Wyles. “The key difference is that the features are focused around learning."
Unlike some social media sites, the content created on MyPortfolio is by default private and the users (students and teachers alike) decide who can access any parts of the content. In choosing to share specific parts of a portfolio the options include: teacher/s, peer/s, a project group, a class, within a school, across schools, between two people etc.
Schools are also realising the importance of teacher portfolios and often encourage or even require their staff to establish their own e-portfolios for professional development and appraisal purposes. This also ensures staff familiarity with the application and teaching approach best suited to e-portfolio use.
Visit the Kineo website or contact Kineo for more info on how Mahara and ePortfolios can be used in your business.