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The use of e‐portfolios in recognition of prior learning (RPL) processes in workplace and professional practice contexts has attracted little attention in the literature due to its emergent nature. This study seeks to explore the growing incidence of e‐portfolio‐based RPL (e‐RPL) and professional recognition (e‐PR) processes in Australia and the implications this has for recognising workplace learning.

The paper utilises an exploratory study and involves a content analysis of a selected sample of data sources. The sample includes the abstracts and papers presented at the 2009 VET E‐portfolios Showcase and the 2010 ePortfolios Australia conference and the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (AFLF) funded E‐portfolio implementation trials 2009 and 2010.

The paper finds an array of e‐RPL and e‐PR operationalised across multiple fields/disciplines and contexts. The incidence of e‐PR is more dominant than that of e‐RPL. The findings result in the development of a framework that provides the conceptual scaffolding for recognition systems in the workplace.

The study is limited to Australian based data sources. Further analysis could be expanded to international contexts to increase the data and evidence on e‐RPL and e‐PR processes and the implications these have for recognising workplace. The framework developed from the study provides a conceptual launch pad into future lines of inquiry which can critically explore the underlying pedagogies and knowledge paradigms which have dominated in formal learning systems.

The paper includes implications for the correct matching of practices and tasks to appropriate types of e‐portfolio based RPL and PR along a continuum of formal to informal learning and varying degrees of learner control.

This paper presents an analytical framework for exploring e‐RPL and e‐PR as distinct processes of recognition through a synthesis of RPL and e‐portfolio research and theoretical constructs. The framework includes a typology of e‐RPL and e‐PR based on Smith and Tillema's typology of portfolios and Cameron's models of RPL. The framework will assist in analysing recognition processes undertaken in workplace contexts.

This case study describe how Bahrain Polytechnic maintains academic quality while responding to students’ expectations that prior learning will be recognized in a competitive market. Although recognising prior learning is important for enhancing the student experience, Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) need confidence in the quality of transferring students prior learning. Bahrain Polytechnic differ from other HEI’s in the Kingdom of Bahrain in that it delivers applied, professional and technical qualifications. Graduates are expected to be work-ready; confident and competent, aware of what is expected of them in the professional world, and able to perform to their full potential (Bahrain Polytechnic, 2017). Programmes, qualifications and courses, and the underlying methodology of how they are delivered are developed in consultation with businesses, industries, professions, international education and training institutions to ensure that Bahrain Polytechnic graduates meet the needs of the labour market, thus supplying Bahrain’s economy with a source of highly skilled graduates. This enforces the use of a unique teaching and learning philosophy represented in Problem-based Learning (PBL) (Bahrain Polytechnic, 2017). Therefore, Bahrain Polytechnic need to be very cautious when assessing any RPL application. This paper identifies student mobility and internationalization as important and legitimate issues for both individual institutions and for educational quality assurance bodies. It then focuses on the Bahrain Polytechnic’s approach in acknowledging students prior learning through formal education. Following significant internal consultation, Bahrain Polytechnic has developed a more robust process for awarding credits/ exemptions to students based on formal education in other approved HEI’s.

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a process by which both formal learning for recognised awards, informal learning from experience and non-formal learning for uncertificated but planned learning is given academic recognition. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper refers to international developments in RPL and then focuses upon the extensive and innovative use of RPL by Middlesex University and the developing RPL work at the Australian Institute of Business.

The Middlesex experience of recognition of learning from experience as part of the development of customised work-based learning programmes demonstrates the potential of RPL for business and management programmes.

The use of RPL for admission and/or credit in standard programmes enables individuals to have their work-based knowledge acknowledged as relevant, worthwhile and equivalent to learning obtained in the higher education classroom.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of recognition of prior learning (RPL) as an alternative tool for access into learning programmes in South African Library and Information Science (LIS) schools.

The study adopted quantitative methods, and utilised questionnaires and document analysis to collect data.

The study found that despite an institutional “will” among the LIS schools to open up access to learners who come from diverse backgrounds; there are still aspects that inhibit the use of RPL as an alternative route of access into higher education and training.

In-depth interviews were not conducted to ascertain the veracity of the findings.

This study was valuable for institutions, policy makers, government and other stakeholders to assess the impact of RPL implementation in higher education and training.

Despite there been very little published concerning RPL implementation in higher education and training, use of RPL, as an alternative route to access into higher education and training is generally low. The paper seeks to highlight and promote RPL as an alternative route of access into higher education and training especially for non-matriculants from diverse backgrounds.

A diverse range of initiatives in relation to the recognition of prior learning (RPL) have been introduced in higher education systems over the past 20 years. This paper aims to explore the implementation of RPL initiatives, in an Irish context, and the implications for quality assurance in higher education.

A qualitative approach is adopted, to provide an enhanced understanding of the impact of RPL initiatives. Data is presented from interviews with key stakeholders: six academics, six coordinators and six learners who availed of RPL.

The introduction of RPL requires higher education institutions to adopt new approaches to the design and delivery of their programmes and also to review and revise quality assurance frameworks. This paper presents key insights across five over-arching themes (ambitions and outcomes; caution and suspicion; in the classroom; assessment and examinations; and life after university).

The introduction of RPL evokes a mixed reaction from stakeholders, and there is a range of differing experiences, leading to differences in attitudes and unintended impacts. This study provides insights both at an individual and institutional levels using experiential learning theory.

Work‐place learning takes place in many settings and in different ways, resulting in knowledge and skills of different kinds. The recognition process in the work place is however often implicit and seldom discussed in terms of recognition of prior learning (RPL). The aim of this paper is to give examples of how the knowledge/skills of employees get recognition in the workplace and to discuss what the consequences of such recognition processes might be.

This paper is based on a study in two companies and two municipalities, where 21 interviews were conducted with human resource managers, team leaders and union representatives. The research questions concerned the ways skills were recognised among employees and how the logics of these actions could be understood.

The findings show that both companies and municipalities have their own ways of assessing knowledge/skills, mostly out of a production logic of what is needed at the workplace. However, certain skills are also made “unvisualised” for the employee. This employer‐controlled recognition logic is important to understand when RPL models are brought to the work place in order to obtain win‐win situations for both employers and employees.

It seems important to identify an already existing system for assessment of knowledge/skills at the workplace when bringing RPL processes to the workplace.

The approach to understand assessment processes in these companies and municipalities from an RPL perspective has not been widely covered before.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and highlight the key constructs of an enabling policy environment and their probable impact on development and implementation of recognition of prior learning (RPL) process in higher education and training in South Africa with reference to library and information science (LIS) field.

The study adopted quantitative methods, and utilised questionnaires and document analysis to collect data. The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data from all the ten LIS schools in the South African higher education and training landscape. The questionnaire was used as the main data collection tool to collect quantitative data through a survey research design. In addition, the researcher employed content analysis to analyse qualitative data collected from institutional RPL policy documents.

The study found that the LIS schools have aligned most of their institutional RPL policies and procedures with South African Qualifications Authority’s national RPL policy (2013). However, in terms of the institutional RPL policy environment, the study found that there was a low level of compliance regarding certain aspects of the policy environment among LIS schools despite their express explicit commitment to the principles of equity of access and redress.

In-depth interviews were not conducted to ascertain the reasons for low level of compliance regarding certain aspects of the RPL policy.

This study is valuable for higher education institutions, policy and governance, government and other stakeholders to assess the level of compliance to legislative and regulatory framework in RPL implementation in higher education and training in South Africa. In addition, the study was important for LIS schools in particular as RPL can be used as a tool to open access and increase participation in learning programmes to counteract low level of student enrolments in this field.

There is very little published concerning compliance to legislative framework RPL implementation in higher education and training. Furthermore, most published work relate to RPL implementation in higher education and training in general. The paper describes compliance to legislative framework to RPL implementation in higher education and training in South Africa with special reference to LIS field.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers that higher education (HE) work-based learners face when constructing experiential learning claims through reflective narratives.

A survey of 38 part-time, HE undergraduate work-based learners was conducted. A questionnaire was designed comprising Likert scale and open ended questions to capture students’ experiences of constructing experiential learning claims.

The study found that students experience several learning barriers including the diversity and complexity of reflective learning models, the solitary nature of reflective learning, problems articulating tacit knowledge in writing, emotional barriers to reflective learning, accurately recalling “historic” learning experiences and difficulties in developing the meta-competence of learning to learn.

Consideration should be given to assisting learners to develop the skills necessary to select and use reflective learning models that best fit particular experiential learning contexts. Learners should be encouraged to undertake group reflection in the classroom and in the workplace to enable them to write critical reflective narratives that have integrity. There should be less reliance on written reflective narratives to evidence tacit knowledge with consideration given to other methods such as practical demonstrations, videos presentations and interviews.

The study contributes to knowledge of the barriers that students face when constructing experiential learning claims through reflective narratives. It proposes an outline pedagogical scaffolding framework to assist learners to develop recognition of prior learning (RPL) claims to enable them to maximise opportunities for claiming credits through universities RPL processes.

Questions some assumptions about the benefits of recognizing prior learning (RPL) in the context of learning a trade. Competence‐based training and recognition of prior learning tend to conceive the learning of a trade as merely the acquisition of skills. Further, the process of RPL assumes that skills learned in one context are easily transferred to another. Explores aspects of tradespersonship which may be lost through the emphasis on a hurried path through a modularized course. Suggests that to become a tradesperson requires vocational development within a “culture of practice”. It is a journey requiring time for maturation. Suggests that recognizing prior learning may also be an exercise in re‐cognizing the notion of apprenticeship, in that it may change the conception of what it means to become a tradesperson.