Mark Brown: Learner ownership is at the heart of the portfolio

What did Prof Dr Mark Brown learn about portfolios in his 21+ years of experience at Massey University and at Dublin City University, working with Mahara? He highlights three lessons: Be clear about the purpose of the portfolio. Support from the institution's leadership. Embed portfolios into programme-wide assessment. Mark advocates for learners to retain the ownership of their portfolio. Most recently, Mark served as the Inaugural Professor of Digital Learning and Director of the National Institute of Digital Learning at Dublin City University. Resources Mahara Mark Nichols' keynote at Mahara Hui 2014 'Mahara and the challenges of adulthood' Mahara Hui Online on 15 October 2026 DCU's 10th Mahara anniversary event on 1 October 2026 Books Donaldson, L. (Ed.). (2018). Eportfolio based assessment—Inspiring exploration and supporting evaluation for practitioners. Dublin City University, National Institute for Digital Learning. Donaldson, L. (Ed.). (2021). Exemplars of DCU best practice with eportfolio based assessment. Dublin City University, National Institute for Digital Learning. Lowney, R., & O’Keeffe, N. (2026). Case studies of eportfolio assessment practices: Volume 3. Lowney, R., O’Keeffe, N., & Campau, S. (2026). ePortfolios at Dublin City University: The experiences of students and staff. Modise, M.-E., & Vaughan, N. (Eds.). (2025). Digital resilience of ePortfolios during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons for the future. Open Education Alberta. Scully, D., O’Leary, M., & Brown, M. (2018). The learning portfolio in higher education—A game of snakes and ladders. Dublin City University, Centre for Assessment Research, Policy & Practice in Education (CARPE) and National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL). Related episodes Lisa Donaldson: From 0 to 6,000 in six weeks Orna Farrell: Supporting learners and lecturers alike in their portfolio journey Mark Brady: Journal regularly for profound insight Mark Glynn: Take a programmatic approach to assessment with portfolios Rob Lowney: Create collaborative portfolios to surface group learning Tabitha Parker: Build the habit of reflecting Subscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios. Production information Production: Catalyst IT Host: Kristina Hoeppner Artwork: Evonne Cheung Music: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward