Distance Learning for Incarcerated Populations

Abstract

While many educators focus on bridging the digital divide for rural and disadvantaged students, a few focus on a much more isolated population— those in the U.S. prison system. “The criminal justice system has frequently been referred to as a ‘revolving door’ where offenders are released, only to be returned over and over again to incarceration” (Daniel, 2003, p. 3). Research shows that educating incarcerated populations clearly lowers recidivism rates at huge savings to state taxpayers. Just as the advent of the Web has revolutionized education’s reach, e-learning technologies have the power to extend into the most dangerous and neglected schoolrooms in our country, those of our prisons.