As both the owner and operator of correctional facilities and the official oversight entity for higher education in prison programming, it is up to departments of correction to determine what technology to make available for education on the inside. This means that correctional leaders are responsible for considering security and safety as well as educational best practices. There is little research on how to negotiate these, at times differing, value sets. As a result, there are very few resources designed to help correctional leaders determine what technologies are available, how they might benefit students in their facilities, and what drawbacks the new technology might pose.

Technology Implementation for Higher Education in Prison: A Student-Centered Playbook for Planning, Preparing, and Assessing Implementation Readiness emerged from a pressing need identified by Ascendium Education Group for decision-making tools and frameworks to assist correctional leadership in navigating the complex landscape of educational technology.

Why now?

The revised regulations that restored federal Pell eligibility for incarcerated learners in July 2023 stipulate that academic services provided in Pell eligible college programs inside prisons must be “comparable” to those provided on the higher education institution’s other campuses. These regulations suggest that oversight entities, such as departments of correction, will be in charge of determining exactly what constitutes comparable service. Meanwhile, the technology landscape in corrections continues to shift, as states increasingly move to adopt digital technology for education purposes. Concurrently, traditional education technology vendors and service providers—such as Blackboard, Google, and Apple—are increasingly moving to provide products and services in correctional settings, increasing competition in a landscape previously dominated by corrections-specialized telecommunications companies and niche vendors. As a result, correctional leaders are facing a glut of options and information, and very few ways to measure and compare options or guidance on how best to weigh them.

Understanding that the field is in a state of flux, Ithaka S+R, with generous support from Ascendium Education Group, designed this playbook to help leaders in the field center student learning as they navigate the education technology landscape. While this has been written and designed specifically with correctional education leaders in mind, the playbook should also be of value to higher education in prison program administrators, accreditation agencies, and technical assistance and research organizations.

Using the playbook

Rather than a traditional research report, this publication is intended as a strategic planning aid or guide. It provides considerations for specific scenarios, advice on how to advance educational goals, and a downloadable set of tools to help guide strategy. The full playbook offers a framework to help departments of corrections clarify their goals and objectives for implementing education technology, the supports and constraints they face, and the stakeholders they need to engage. We also provide guidance on how to define and assess outcomes.

At a glance, the step-by-step process for implementing new education technology might look something like this:

  • Start by centering the student experience.
  • Before you begin to think about technology, consider what concrete educational objectives and/or outcomes you are trying to improve or achieve.
  • Ask what technologies can support that.
  • Investigate your options alongside key stakeholders and ensure that they are engaged throughout the process.
  • Explore how technology might intersect with existing policy and procedure.
  • Ensure that policies and procedures governing technology use do not shut-down or shutter education for many if there are transgressions by few.
  • Provide training to all relevant stakeholders and ensure that boots-on-the-ground staff from both corrections and education understand the importance of educational technology.
  • Gather ethical data about usage and effectiveness from the start, so you can track them over time. Make sure this data collection complies with relevant correctional and educational policy.
  • Reassess your objectives and outcomes regularly and ensure that technology is serving as a means to educational and rehabilitative ends.

Our aim with the playbook is to provide strategies and approaches that will make it easier to incorporate new education technology to improve educational outcomes, educational equity, and student educational experiences. Please reach out if you have any questions about this work or need additional support.