Pukunui Kicks Off 2026 Webinar Series with Mahara ePortfolio
Pukunui has embarked on its first webinar for 2026. Our aim is to share technological and pedagogical knowledge with our participants through the Moodle-compatible tools provided by our partners.
We kicked off our series with our partner, Catalyst, for a session on Mahara ePortfolio. The event featured Kristina Hoeppner—the Project Lead, Product Manager, and Community Facilitator for Mahara—who is a renowned expert in the field.
During the session, she shared her insights on Mahara ePortfolio implementation and introduced participants to the vital role ePortfolios play in documenting learning journeys, showcasing skills and competencies, and supporting reflective, lifelong learning.
Kristina also answered several questions from the participants during the live session. If you have further questions regarding Mahara, please contact us at hello.my@pukunui.com or join Mahara’s monthly “Ask Me Anything” Q&A session.
Key Takeaways from the Session
During this insightful session, Kristina shared her extensive knowledge on the strategic implementation of Mahara. Key highlights included:
- The Power of Reflection: Moving beyond simple file storage to create a meaningful “learning journey.”
- The 5 Cs of Mahara: A deep dive into how students can Create, Collect, Curate, Converse, and Connect to build a professional digital identity.
- Seamless Integration: How Mahara works hand-in-hand with platforms like Moodle to provide a holistic learning ecosystem.
- Future Roadmap: An exclusive look at what’s coming next for Mahara in 2026, including usability refreshes and AI-assisted reflection.
Why ePortfolios Matter Now More Than Ever
With the educational shift toward competency-based frameworks, it is essential that students can demonstrate practical skills beyond traditional grading. This session offered our community a strategic roadmap for evolving from static assessments into dynamic, lifelong learning records.
“A portfolio is not just a product; it’s a process of storytelling about one’s learning experiences.” — Kristina Hoeppner
Watch the Recording
The webinar, "Transform Your Learning Ecosystem with Mahara," was a session held in February 2026 featuring Christina Hopner, the Project Lead for Mahara. The session focused on the benefits of electronic portfolios and how Mahara integrates with learning management systems (LMS) like Moodle.
Snippets from the recording
- Introduction to Mahara: Mahara is an open-source electronic portfolio platform designed for reflection, documenting learning journeys, and showcasing competencies [00:15].
- LMS vs. Portfolio: While an LMS like Moodle is often teacher-centric and course-bound, Mahara is student-centric. It allows learners to decide what evidence to keep and reflect upon, ensuring their work isn’t lost when a course ends [09:19].
- Five Types of Portfolios Supported:
- Learning Portfolio: For reflection on activities [10:57].
- Assessment Portfolio: Often integrated with Moodle for grading [12:13].
- Work Integrated Learning: For tracking internships and practicums [13:24].
- Showcase Portfolio: For job applications and resumes [14:18].
- Professional Certification: For demonstrating competency frameworks [15:21].
- The “5 Cs” of Portfolio Activity: Christina outlined the core activities as: Create, Collect, Curate, Converse, and Connect [31:06].
- Mahara Roadmap: A major usability refresh (Version 26.04) is planned for April 2026, focusing on consistency and modern workflows [33:57]. Future plans include AI integration and improved mobile capabilities [35:38].
Q&A Highlights
Q: Can a student’s reflection report (previously a PDF in Moodle) be imported into Mahara?
A: While you could upload the PDF, the real benefit of Mahara is moving away from static files. Christina suggested using Mahara templates so students can gradually build their reports with multimedia (images/videos) and narrative text directly on a portfolio page [45:21].
Q: What is the maximum file size for uploads?
A: There is no hard limit in Mahara itself; it is determined by the institution. Some set it to 250MB, while others allow several gigabytes. However, Christina recommends downsampling large images and hosting videos on external sharing sites for better performance [47:14].
Q: Is Mahara just a blog for students?
A: It includes journaling (blogging) features but goes much further. It offers professional development tracking, automated calculation of CPD hours, and complex permission controls that allow students to decide exactly who sees their work [48:41].
Q: How do permissions work if I want to share a portfolio with only one person?
A: The learner has full control. You can share with a specific individual, a group, or the public. You can also set “start” and “stop” dates for access [50:08].
Q: Can multiple users edit a single portfolio for group work?
A: Yes. Portfolios can be created within “Groups” in Mahara, allowing collaborative editing. New features are also being developed to allow group portfolios to be submitted as a single assignment in Moodle [55:55].
Q: Are there plans for AI features?
A: Yes, ideas are being explored, specifically around text and multimodal artefact analysis to help guide student reflection (e.g., reflection bots), though concrete plans will follow the April 2026 redesign [56:44].
Pukunui would like to thank Kristina for her time and her dedication to sharing her knowledge and insights during the session. We would also like to thank all our participants for joining us.
Please join us again for our upcoming webinars! You can check for our latest events here.
