The software was designed to be an open-source electronic portfolio platform to support the student learning and personal learning environment goals of educational institutions.[12] Mahara allows students to select their own work and prepare an online portfolio, to both share in a university classroom context and show to future employers.[14]
Mahara supports translation into different languages using language packs, and contributions of complete or near-complete coverage have been provided for Japanese, Basque, French, Māori, Slovenian, German, Czech, and Danish languages.[15]
^Kennedy, Eileen; Neumann, Tim; Rowett, Steve; Strawbridge, Fiona (2017). Digital education and the Connected Curriculum: Towards a connected learning environment. UCL Press. pp. 188–202. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1xhr542.19. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
^Moorfield, John C. "mahara". Te Aka Online Māori Dictionary. Retrieved 21 May 2020. verb: 'to think about, consider' and 'to remember, recollect, bear in mind'; noun: 'recollection, thought, memory, reasoning'
^ abBrown, Mark; Anderson, Bill; Simpson, Mary; Suddaby, Gordon (2007). Showcasing Mahara: A new open source eportfolio(PDF). Proceedings of ASCILITE, Singapore. pp. 82–84. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
^"Contributors". Mahara Wiki. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2019. Mahara is developed by a world-wide team of programmers, translators, designers and enthusiastic amateurs. Many individuals and groups have contributed to Mahara so far.