Mahara Assignment Submission Plugin

This repository houses an updated Mahara assignment submission plugin.

Features

• XML-RPC integration with a Mahara installation
• The student selects one of their Mahara portfolio pages or collections as a Moodle assignment submission
  
• If multiple submissions are allowed, it releases the previously selected submission
• Abides by Moodle assignments config options
• Popups for quickly previewing submissions (no windows... no tabs)
• Mahara pages can be made to lock upon submission, and unlock upon grading. Or stay permanently locked. Or not lock at all.
• Unlock-on-grading functionality also supports marking workflow. Submitted pages will unlock when the workflow state changes to "Released".
  

Requirements

• Fully integrated Moodle -> Mahara instances
• If you are using Moodle 2.6 or earlier, you will also need to install the Mahara assignment feedback plugin if you want submissions to unlock upon grading.
  
• If you are using Moodle 2.5 or earlier, you will also need to install the Mahara local plugin
  

Installation

1. Make sure that your Moodle and Mahara versions are up to date.
   
2. Connect your Moodle and Mahara sites via MNet. (For detailed instructions see the Mahara wiki).
3. If you are using Mahara 1.9 or earlier, apply the included patch file "mahara-patch.txt" to your Mahara site.
   
4. If you are using Moodle 2.6, apply the included patch file "moodle-patch.txt" to your Moodle site.
5. If you are using Moodle 2.5 or earlier, install the Mahara local plugin now.
   
6. Install this plugin the normal way: by using the Moodle web installer, or by extracting the plugin archive to {Moodle_Root}/mod/assign/submission/mahara and going to the admin "Notifications" page.
   
7. Once the plugin is installed, go to "Site administration -> Networking -> Manage Peers". Select the peer record for your Mahara site, click on the "Services" tab, and subscribe to the "Assign Submission Mahara services" service.
8. Open the "Site admin" -> "Plugins" -> "Activity modules" -> "Assignment" -> "Submission plugins" -> "Mahara portfolio" and configure default locking behavior.
9. Now you may create your first Mahara assignment.
   

Upgrading (Moodle 2.6 or later)

There were previously two different forks of the Mahara assignment submission plugin for Moodle, one developed by the University of Portland, and another by Lancaster University. This plugin is designed to allow you to upgrade from either. It will automatically detect which version of the plugin you have installed, and migrate it accordingly. So all you need to do is:

1. Remove the current contents of your mod/assign/submission/mahara directory.
2. Follow the steps under "Installation" above. (This will trigger the database upgrade script.)
3. If you are using Moodle 2.7 or later and you have previously installed the Mahara assignment feedback plugin (mod/assign/feedback/mahara), the upgrade will prompt you to uninstall it. You will then need to remove its directory.
4. If you have also installed the Mahara local plugin (local/mahara), you should now uninstall it and remove its directory.

NOTE: If you were using the Mahara assignment feedback plugin before, you need to upgrade this assignment submission plugin before uninstalling the assignment feedback plugin. This is to allow the per-assignment locking settings from the feedback plugin to be migrated into the replacement system in the submission plugin.

Usage

1. Go into a Moodle course as a teacher.
2. An an "Assignment" activity to the course.
3. Under the assignment's "Submission types" section, you should see an option for "Mahara portfolio". Tick this box, and any others you also want the student to include in their submission.
4. Use the "Lock submitted pages" menu to choose whether you want submitted Mahara pages & collections to be locked from editing in Mahara. This feature is useful if you wish to prevent students to edit the page after the submission deadline.
5. Once the assignment is set up, a student in the course will see a screen to let them select one of their Mahara portfolio pages or collections as part of their assignment submission.
6. As the teacher, when you view the assignment submission via the gradebook, you will see a link that will allow you to view the submitted Mahara page or collection. (The plugin will automatically generate the access rights in Mahara).
7. See the Readme for more details.
   

Feedback plugin (Moodle 2.6 only)

In Moodle 2.6, if you set the plugin to lock submitted pages & collections, they will remain locked in Mahara permanently. If you wish them to become unlocked once they are graded, you should also install the Mahara assignment feedback plugin, and activate it in your assignment.

Issues

Please use plugin repository bug tracker for reporting issues.

Credits

• Exeter Region Cooperative
• Windham
• Oyster River
• Farmington
• Newmarket
• Timberlane School District

The upgrade to Moodle 2.0 and 2.1 was completed by Aaron Wells at Catalyst and supported by NetSpot and Pukunui Technology.

• Phulip Cali and Tony Box (box@up.edu) at University of Portland
• Ruslan Kabalin at University of Lancaster

Subsequent updates to the plugin for Moodle 2.6 and 2.7 were implemented by Aaron Wells at Catalyst with funding from:

• University of Brighton
• Canberra University

The upgrade to use events for unlocking behaviour and supporting grading workflow was developed by Lancaster University.