Community is what makes Open Source ePortfolios so fantastic

A new feature has just been added to Foliospaces that allows users to embed content from hundreds of different sources, just by pasting the URL. The main difference between software like Mahara and proprietary software is the constant evolution, and improvement of Open Source software. The reason is that individuals from all over the world, constantly contribute code for no other reason than personal satisfaction and a sense of community. A regular contributor to the Mahara community, Gregor Anželj, has produced a Mahara block type for Embedly. What this means for Foliospaces users is that you can now embed URLs from over 200 sites.

So how does the blocktype work? All you have to do is drag it into your view, paste the URL from the application you want to use (such as a YouTube video, Flickr image, Scribd document, TED, Teacher Tube, Issuu, CNN, or hundreds of others). The blocktype then displays the video, image, document or other choice of media. You will find it under the external feeds tab, when you go in to edit your view. It is just so great being able to embed content from multiple sources via one simple blocktype. A friend emailed me today and said the IT Mafia at her institution has just banned embedding in Moodle. Makes me wonder if they have any idea about the real world at all. Bland pages that just contain endless lists of links look so boring. For my part anyway I am so excited that it will now be easy to embed so many great apps in Foliospaces. If your LMS has become a one-way street you can always link to a FS room with a view :-)