Page 156 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

136 OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic,
the University embarked on conducting
supervised online entrance tests for number
of programs for which aptitude test is
compulsory for admission. Further, the
university has also introduced various types
of authentic remote online assessments
which are mostly unsupervised and are akin
to open book tests.

With the success of this exercise, the
university is currently in the process of
institutionalizing online examinations so that
the academic departments can use them as
part of the Continuous Assessment as well.
A separate online examination unit has also
been established under the Examination
Division to administer the online assessments.
The university is also now studying the
various examination proctoring systems to be
introduced for online assessments. Currently,
nearly all the 1,200 courses offered by the
university are available online.

The success of blended/online learning
depends on the access to learning materials by
the students using a computing device. It has
been found that many students in Sri Lanka
do not have a personal device to access the
learning resources. Further, many students
also have connectivity issues due to various
reasons, including affordability. Therefore,
to address these issues, the university has
established computer laboratories in all its
centres around the country with adequate
connectivity. Further, the university is
currently in the process of providing wi-
fi connection to all its Regional and Study
Centres. With these initiatives, the university
ensures no student is denied opportunity

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)