Why the Recognition of Prior Learning is a business opportunity and a pedagogical imperative in Australian Higher Education in a digital age.

1. Why the Recognition of Prior Learning is a business
opportunity and a pedagogical imperative in
Australian Higher Education in a digital age
A workshop for Course Directors, Faculty of
Business, 23/05/2013, Albury NSW, Charles Sturt
University Australia.
Dr Merilyn Childs, Associate Professor of Digital
Futures, Australian Institute of Digital Futures
University of Southern Queensland
Merilyn.Childs@usq.edu.au

2. But first, AQF Definitions, Nov 2012
• RPL is an assessment
process that involves
assessment of an
individual’s relevant prior
learning (including formal,
informal, and non-formal
learning) to determine the
credit outcomes of an
individual application for
credit.
• Credit is the value assigned
for the recognition of
equivalence in content and
learning outcomes and/or
qualifications.
http://www.aqf.edu.au/Portals/0/Documents/2013%20docs/RPL%20Explanation.pdf

3. Too often we consider prior learning as flawed. So we
introduce a formula that goes something like this:
+
= proper, civilised university education
An aside: this flaw underpins current debates about giving MOOCs credit.

4. But really, the changing nature of work, learning & participation in a digital
age just makes that thinking outmoded
++
= lifelong, personalised, connected learning
(within which formal studies play a part)
+

5. Flawed logic in the digital age
• University learning good
(Yay!)
• Informal learning bad
(Boo!)
Robust logic in the digital age
• Learning anywhere, anytime may be good (Yay!).
Our job is to make sense of the personalized
connections between well designed university
learning (yay!) and great informal learning (yay!).

6. In Australia, we tend to think about RPL as a vocational process:
Google search:
“RPL and au”

7. In Europe and North America much more thinking is
being done about RPL (APEL & VPL) in HE
Google search
“RPL and eu”

8. Sometimes we need to acknowledge that it’s hard to
spot the difference
• Grown in university soil • Grown in the soil of life
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wgyuri/501884430/

9. In summary
• Research confirms that the primary mode of
recognition in Australian Universities is through
credit transfer, not RPL
• This means lack of responsiveness to prior informal
and non-formal learning – and failure to respond to
students as a “package deal” of personalized learning
• It also means an amazing opportunity exists to build
business and lead in this space

10. RPL (as opposed to credit) is a process that demands
of us that we understand two key questions:
• What are the qualities and
characteristics of the
oranges we hope to
nurture?
• How do we recognise those
qualities and characteristics
regardless of the soil they
were grown in, who planted
the bare roots, how the
watering was done?
There are models to answer this, but first….

11. Exercise 1: Undergraduate course responses
towards prior learning
• Ignore prior learning (pack of analytics about student
backgrounds, ages, prior occupations)
• Note prior learning, take no action
• Value prior learning as part of entry criteria or learning
activities and assessments
• Accredit prior formal learning through credit packages and
advanced standing, but ignore prior informal and non-formal
learning
• Accredit prior learning (in line with AQF definition)
Through this exercise I
hoped to illicit
conversations about the
types of responses
currently made to a
student’s prior learning

12. Exercise 2
Through this exercise I hoped
to provoke discussion about
current responses, assuming a
student with this kind of profile
applied to study.

13. What else is possible? #1
http://priorlearning.athabascau.ca/ (Note in the US they can charge a fee)
Although generally
speaking Australia lacks
substantial models re RPL,
it’s important we look
elsewhere to see what is
possible.

14. What else is possible? #2
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearningcapital/eapel_final_report.pdf
One key issue about
implementing RPL is the
issue of scale – although
not easily translated to the
Australia context, this
emerging project is an
interesting idea.

15. http://learn.openscout.net/index.html
Oh, Have you heard about this?
I included this because
change to HE in terms of
RPL can be contextualised
in terms of a learner’s
access to micro credentials
and open learning
opportunities.

16. Acknowledgments
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/4412472230/sizes/m/in/photostream/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/gforsythe/7704609288/lightbox/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcwathieu/2412755417/sizes/m/in/photostream/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/margoconnell/1450871195/sizes/m/in/photostream/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/80535871@N00/3237230544/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Why is RPL a business opportunity as well as a
pedagogical imperative? It’s a business opportunity
because right now in Australia, no one university
has developed a comprehensive response to RPL,
and the opportunity it provides to attract students.
It’s a pedagogical imperative because learner’s learn
through a wide range of open learning, workplace
and other opportunities. In the clouds, through
social media, and in places like the OERu. We have
the policy frameworks to move forward in a positive
way – we just need to do the hard thinking, careful
balancing and creative work!
END