Exploring the possibilities and constraints of online assessment to advance open learning in a South African TVET college

South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)has put forward ‘open learning’ as an educational approach to addressing issues ofaccess and success in the post-school education and training sector. This chapterinvestigates the possibilities and limitations of online assessment to advance DHET’sopen learning agenda in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET)sector. Adopting a social justice lens, this chapter explores how online assessmenthas the potential to encourage as well as constrain ‘parity of participation’ (Fraser,1995) from an economic, cultural and political perspective. A small empirical studyinvolving interviews with four staff members from Tshwane North TVET College’s OpenLearning Unit and four students is employed to illuminate the themes of social justice.The findings indicate that online assessment has the potential to aid economic justiceby creating the conditions for working individuals to improve their qualifications whilstworking, but lack of access to material resources, such as suitable technologies anddata, can be a deterrent. Culturally, in relation to pedagogy, the findings illustrate thepotential for online assessment to support learning by providing immediate feedbackand creating opportunities for self-assessment, although academic integrity surfacesas a major concern. Politically, the findings indicate how a lack of national policycan hinder the successful operationalisation of online assessment at the course andinstitutional level. The chapter highlights the need to develop policies that correspondwith the philosophies and practices of online assessment and open learning. Itproposes that principles of open learning, combined with the affordances of onlineassessment, allows for an opportunity to explore different modes of assessments fromthe fit-for-purpose perspective.