The Effects Of E-Learning On Prisoner Recidivism

Dr. Kimberley Garth

KAGL and Affiliates, Elk Grove, CA, USA

Dr. Joseph Francom

Computer Information Technology, Dixie State

College of Utah, St. George, UT, USA

E-Governance, Technology

and Education Conference,

Las Vegas, 2009

•Research indicates that when a prisoner is

returned to society that readiness for

successful reentry depends on many factors

such as

oEducation Programs

oVocational Training Programs

oWork Programs (Traditional Industries and

Private Industries)

Research of

American prisoners

indicates a link

between education

and crime, or

“street crime”(drug

sells, possession,

other) and reentry

success (Silverburg,

et. al, 2008; Steurer,

2003; Tolbert and

Klien, 2007).

Chart II, Relationship between Education and

White-collar Crime

Statistics indicate more

than 50 % of ex-

offenders recidivate

within the first 12 months

of release from prison.

Nearly 3/4ths fail to get

jobs and become

contributors in the family

and community (Bureau

of Justices Statistics,

2008; NAALs Report,

2003)

There’s a strong

association between

education and excons’

success.

•Excons Leave Prison and Returns

Home

•The demand for

technology-delivered

education to inmates is

not new, but advocates

want to prevent high

parole failure due to

low literacy and

improve reentry.

•Purpose of our

research.

•ELearning has a vital

role in mediating the

excons successful

reentry back into the

community .

•Prison-based

education using

computer technology

may be statistically

significant to

recidivism and reentry.

Rehabilitation Theory focuses on psychotherapy,

counseling, vocational, work training and education.

Technology Learning says “Learning through

‘discovery’ is best supported through ‘interactive’

media of the field trip… This is the richest mode of

learning and of course, the most expensive, requiring

both the intimate involvement of the teacher, and the

‘teacher constructed worlds’” (Laurillard, p. 44).

Task Technology Fit Theory focuses on interactivity

between user and computer; developing computer-

assisted learning tasks affected by this theory

Accurately defining computer- or technology-assisted

education for prisoners was problematic. What exactly is

eLearning in a prison setting?

ELearning is defined as:

•use of technology as an instructional medium;

•a way to convey pedagogical material to the student inmate

•Literature review refers of corrections research uses terms as

“education technology” or computer-aided instruction.

ELearning is the use of any form of technology to enhance

Instruction; including use of:

•computers, networks, the world-wide web, streaming video,

streaming audio, chat or discussion boards and forums.

•Security Issues

Kargl, Futschek, and

Kalinyaprak (2005),

suggest that the eLearning

is a “suitable and

economic answer to

education in prisons,” but

two main security issues

must be addressed:

Network infrastructure and

Software.

•Cogburn’s (1990) study

of adult prisoners at Rikers

Island Prison in New York,

Found that prisoners with

“vocation education”—i.e.

Emphasizing work-related

Literacy do better than

those without education.

•But insufficient data on

computer-assisted

education, especially on

eLearning and improved

prisoner learning gains.

•Literature mentions that

essential to adult learning is

relevancy and interests; from

the behaviorist theory also

vital is learning through

Reinforcement.

The US Department of Justice surveyed corrections

professionals who indicated a “strong interests” in the topic

of prisoner education and technology usage.

Politicians base decisions to support (or oppose) policies to

promote prison-based education based primarily on one

field of research, which is corrections.

The benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to “what

works” in prisoner reentry is to invest in gaining research

information from two fields—corrections and information

technology. Klein and Tolbert (2007), argue for quality of

education, using this approach.

•In this study we attempted to identify any strategic

goals that would sustain the growth of eLearning

education in American prisons; research is limited

and insufficient.

•A successful eLearning program in any setting

should minimally have the following two component

1) A good instructor to engage the learner and to

teach;

2) An easy to learn course management system

(CMS) for non-technologically oriented students so

that they don’t get lost in the tools and frustrated with

the eLearning mode.

• “Correctional education programs are intended to break this cycle of catch-

and-release by giving inmates the skills they need to succeed in the workplace

and the community.

•Research indicates a lack of vividness defining the essential features of a

prison-based eLearning model in which prisoners can gain an education and

achieve desired learning outcomes (Valacich and Nicholson, 2008). Also, the

•continuity of using the same teacher behind bars and in the community is an

issue that our research could not examine:

•Can teachers work through the local educational agency/district in which the

excon is returned to continue education?

• If so, how might technology facilitate the continuity of learning?

•We caution the reader to conclude that inmate participation in eLearning is

correlated to lower recidivism and improved reentry; although, there is an

association. Additional research is required to produce baseline measures of

the inmate populations involved in eLearning, for policy outcomes and to set

program standards that facilitate and not retard prisoner learning using

technology.