Page 264 - Self-Study Report for Institutional Accreditation

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efforts to research and identify tools for accessibility, responsive design and mobile learning to inform the technical and pedagogical requirements needed to allow greateraccesstoawiderrangeofpotentiallearners. Anaccessibilityresearchgroup comprising staff across the APAD departments meet regularly to plan and research best practices and identify the most appropriate tools. The outcomes are expected to be consolidated into action items to inform implementation plans during the 2019/2020 academic year.
One of the ways in which innovation is evidenced is through Prior Learning Assessment (PLA). The PLA was introduced by the Campus for persons with relevant experiential learning, first for advanced placement only in 2014 and more recently (2016) for matriculation. The PLA Policy states that
The University of the West Indies Open Campus recognises that learning takes place outside of the traditional setting and often through work and life experiences. It is mindful that there is on-going demand for university education by a very large and diverse group of potential students, many of whom have relevant experience and subsequent informal learning, but do not have the traditional, formal qualifications. Hence, it recognises the importance of interfacing the outcomes of relevant experiential learning with formal tertiary education and the need for Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is an integral element of this. (The UWI Open Campus PLA Policy, 2013, p 1).
PLA, first offered in Semester 1, 2014/2015, is available through two online Prior Learning and Portfolio Development/Assessment courses developed by a PLA subject content specialist, under the guidance of APAD. PLA for Advanced Placement has been on offer since 2014 and is designed to allow applicants who matriculate into selected undergraduate programmes to advance in their programmes, if they have previously acquired relevant knowledge and skills from