D2L ePortfolio vs Mahara

D2L ePortfolio is a learning-evidence portfolio for Brightspace users. It stores documents, graphics, audio, video, presentations, coursework and other artifacts, then lets learners decide what to include and how to arrange it. Sharing permissions can allow others to view, edit, comment on or assess selected items. Presentations turn portfolio material into multipage web projects for showing learning and accomplishments. Comments and rubric assessments can be enabled for artifacts, collections, reflections, presentations and learning objectives when permissions allow. Learners may submit an item to a Brightspace assignment; the assignment receives a separate copy that later portfolio edits do not change. A Google Drive selector is available when an administrator enables the integration and the institution has a Google Workspace license. Android, iOS and web access are supported. D2L says Brightspace serves schools, higher education and corporate learning, with customized pricing on request.

Mahara is a free ePortfolio system for learning communities. Students and staff can collect evidence, reflect on experiences, and relate work to competencies or registration requirements. Listed uses include study, professional development, work-integrated learning, assessment, presentation, and employability. Portfolios can be shared with an individual, group, or the public, with access limited by a time frame or assessment task. Users can comment, give feedback, build portfolios together in groups, and take part in group forums. Portfolios can be submitted to learning management systems through LTI for marking. Mahara is open source, under conditions that include providing source code with copies and using the same license for derivative works. It can be hosted on a Linux server; the manual also describes Docker setup for development and testing, and advises securing that environment before live use. The manual describes LTI 1.3 Advantage as experimental and tested only with Brightspace. The project links to community forums, a manual, a wiki, an issue tracker, and extended security support; Catalyst is named as maintainer.