Online RPL Portfolio Development as Continuing Higher Education Practice: Adult Learners’ Experiences in South Africa

This study explores the lived experiences of adult learners participating in a fully online Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) portfolio development programme as a pathway into higher education. Positioned within continuing higher education, the study examined flexible access for adult and nontraditional learners navigating work, family, and educational transitions. Under an interpretive phenomenological approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with eight adult learners at a South African university. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model and adult learning principles, the findings showed that participants experienced the online portfolio process as both challenging and transformative. Although technological barriers, socioeconomic constraints, and competing responsibilities shaped engagement, participants also developed digital confidence, academic agency, and renewed educational aspirations. The study suggests that online RPL portfolio development can serve as a socially responsive continuing higher education strategy for widening access when supported by intentional pedagogy, relational facilitation, and inclusive digital design.