Developing online communities to support distance learning in secure environments

The UK Open University (OU) has successfully provided Higher Education (HE), through distance learning to students in prison, almost since its inception. This paper uses results from a recent qualitative study to discuss the learning process in a secure environment. It argues that the soft skills developed during the self-directed distance learning process are identity forming and discusses the social elements which support the learning. It highlights the major barriers to learning including the lack of access to the internet and explains two possible solutions which are being trialed to bridge the digital divide. It then introduces many of support networks and online learning communities which are developing within and around secure learning environments

Evaluating empowerment and control of HE e-learning in a secure environment

With the increased spread of HE distance learning into a wide variety of contexts it is important for us to understand the factors involved in its successful deployment for students. E-learning has a great potential to support effective and empowering HE distance learning (Wilson, 2007; Adams, 2005; Hughes, 2005). However, within two secure environments, prisons and health service, the factors involved are complex. This paper reviews HE e-learning technology perceptions within these two contrasting contexts from 225 students' and stakeholders' perspectives. Previous research has detailed literature limitations on obtaining students' perspectives of e-learning (Conole et al, 2006). These limitations are compounded when other stakeholder perceptions are not integrated (Sun et al, 2007; Adams et al, 2005; Millen at al, 2002). This paper developed and applied an e-learning framework for student and stakeholder perceptions. This social psychological framework, is based on previous practice based e-learning studies and is used here to synthesise two large-scale case studies. The framework focuses on three concepts learner Access (e.g. learning design, technology design, physical access), Awareness (e.g. of resources, their usage and support for e-learning tasks) and Acceptability (e.g. trust, privacy, aesthetics, engagement). Students' and stakeholders' perceptions identified high levels of students' empowerment through e-learning whilst still requiring a further pedagogical tailoring and an awareness of support. However, serious problems within these contexts have identified blocks to e-learning through stakeholders perceptions and fears of acceptability (i.e. issues of risk and trust). Ultimately, through understanding competing perceptions and needs within these complex environments we can support the effective technological development, pedagogical design and deployment of e-learning systems

Engaging prisoners in education: Reducing risk and recidivism

Engaging prisoners in education is one of a range of measures that could alleviate security risk in prisons. For prisoners, one of the main challenges with incarceration is monotony, often leading to frustration, raising the risk of injury for staff and other prisoners. This article suggests that prisoner engagement in education may help to alleviate security risk in prisons through relieving monotony and reducing re-offending by promoting critical thinking skills. It discusses some of the challenges to accessing higher levels of education in prisons and argues that if education was considered for its risk-reducing potential and measured accordingly, then some of those challenges could be reduced. It concludes with a discussion of projects undertaken in Australia and the UK that introduce digital technologies into prisons to allow greater access to the self-paced higher levels of education which could help realize the benefits of reduced risk and decreased recidivism rates

Land Grant Application- Pike, Timothy (Framingham)

Land grant application submitted to the Maine Land Office on behalf of Timothy Pike for service in the Revolutionary War, by their widow Anne Stone.https://digitalmaine.com/revolutionary_war_mass/1272/thumbnail.jp

Digital exclusion or learning exclusion? An ethnographic study of adult male distance learners in English prisons

Previous research has highlighted the value of technology to enhance learning. However, digital inclusion research has argued that many issues such as skills, access, usability and choice impact on the effectiveness of technology to enhance learning. The findings in this paper add to the debate by highlighting the importance of value and context. In particular, the value that institutions and individuals place on the role of further and higher distance learning in a prison can affect technology enhanced learning in that context. This research identified that despite good IT skills and improved technologies, prison learners’ access and use of technology is hampered by conflicting priorities amongst the multiple organisations controlling prisoner activities. This can lead to a prison in which menial work is valued far higher than learning. Technology enhanced distance learning, perceived by many to be a lifeline in a desolate environment, is heavily restricted in such prisons. The situation is thought to be deteriorating as the number of organisations involved increases and the Government’s plans for ‘working’ prisons gather pace

Prison-Based Transformative Learning and Its Role in Life After Release

Higher-level education in prison is offered mostly through distance learning. Previous research found many barriers to studying this Prison-based Higher-level Distance learning (PHDL) but also suggested that prisoners who persevered with their study appeared changed in some way and perceived themselves to have more chance of a better future. There is, however, very little understanding of how such change occurs or whether it actually makes a difference to them after prison. This thesis presents research which investigated in what ways PHDL is transformative and what role it plays in learners’ lives after release. Qualitative, ethnographic and longitudinal in approach, the research was split into three phases. The pilot phase involved interviewing 10 exprisoners who had completed PHDL. The in-prison phase involved ethnographic fieldwork in 10 prisons in England and Wales with 51 serving prisoners who were due for release and had either completed PHDL or had considered but not engaged with PHDL, this second group providing comparative analysis. The post-release phase traced 28 of those prisoners after release, and engaged with many for up to one year, as they attempted to integrate back into society. An additional perspective was gained from 63 others such as staff, educators and family. A thematic analysis of the complex data identified physical, infrastructural and organisational factors affecting the participants which were mostly barriers to learning and integration. These were mediated by social support factors of family, individual staff, and the perception of being part of a learning community. The psychological outcomes from the interaction of these factors included a positive student identity, resilience and hope which were carried with participants upon release. The immediate post-release environment was chaotic and most participants failed to continue studying, temporarily losing their positive student identity. There was very little social support at this time and it was the participants’ own resilience and hope which helped them to survive until life began to improve. Ultimately it was found that those who were able to capitalise on their learning were better placed to integrate into society

Not just ticking the box: an investigation into safeguarding adults training transfer in Cornwall, UK

Two published journal articles are included in the appendices.Safeguarding adults is a priority in adult social care, and training is one of the main ways in which policy and guidance around it is implemented. Training transfer refers to the use of new learning on the job, and while the transfer literature is well developed, it does not extend to safeguarding adults training. This research aimed to identify, develop and refine a programme theory of safeguarding adults training transfer by identifying factors that facilitate or inhibit the use of safeguarding adults training in practice, and the impact that the training has. A cross sectional mixed methods realist synthesis approach was used to evaluate two safeguarding adults training programmes provided in Cornwall, UK between 2009 and 2011. Realist synthesis aims to uncover what works, for whom, in which circumstances and how, and develops policy makers’ programme theories of interventions using evidence. A systematic review of training transfer generally, and then of health and social care transfer specifically led to a revision of the policy makers’ programme theory of training. Empirical research in the form of a factorial survey and narrative analysis of qualitative interviews was then undertaken, to further revise the programme theory to be specific to safeguarding adults training. Findings emphasise the importance of considering the effect of the training culture and transfer climate on safeguarding adults training effectiveness. Factors such as opportunity to use learning and supervisor support are important to transfer and the conflict between adult learning principles and mandatory training was explored. Safeguarding adults-specific supports were also highlighted, emphasising the importance of supporting practice using mechanisms other than training. Recommendations are provided regarding how the safeguarding related transfer climate can be improved. Limitations of the study include a high likelihood of sampling bias. The limitations of individual methods and problem of generalising findings obtained from a case study of Cornwall were reduced using the realist synthesis approach

Digital learning for prison students: the state of play

Education is seen as one of the puzzle pieces in any strategy to improve reintegration and reduce recidivism. However, education providers are increasingly turning to the online provision of course materials and activities. This excludes prisoners from participating in transformative education as the internet is often prohibited. Given this fundamental mismatch between online education and access to internet in prisons, universities are increasingly looking for ways to ensure effective digital delivery of their courses. This paper outlines innovative solutions from two higher education institutions on opposite sides of the world, both with a track record of providing higher education to prisoners. The OU's 'walled garden' and Open Educational Resources with the UK's Virtual Campus and the Australian internet-independent LMS coupled with tablet computers, are just some of the technologies being trialled which could be repackaged for other contexts and countries

The Open University and Prison Education in the UK – the First 50 Years

In 2019, The Open University (henceforth, The OU), based in Milton Keynes in the UK, celebrated its 50th anniversary. Since 1971 it has pioneered the delivery of Higher Education in prisons and other secure settings. Some 50 years on, in 2021 there is much to celebrate and still more to learn. In this article we briefly review the establishment of the OU in 1969 and explore how it has maintained access to higher education in the prison system. It draws from a collection of essays and reflections on prison learning experiences developed by OU academics and former and continuing OU students in prison (Earle & Mehigan, 2019). We begin by outlining the unique features of the OU and the circumstances of its establishment in the post-war period in the UK. We then present an account of its work with students in prison in the UK (and elsewhere) and conclude with some critical reflections on the place and prospects of higher education in an expanding Higher Education sector and an escalating preference for carceral punishment in the UK. No country on Earth can match the penal preferences of the United States, but the UK’s habit of slipstreaming behind its massive carceral bulk tends to obscure the fact that the UK punishes more people with imprisonment, and with longer sentences, than any other Western European state. It also manages to exceed the United States in rates of racial disproportionality in its carceral population (Phillips, 2013). Despite these outlier features in incarceration, a silver lining to the carceral cloud can be found in The OU’s pioneering work with imprisoned men and women