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Kiosk to reform prisoners' education opportunities

The Elkridge, Maryland, Correctional Education Association has announced a partnership with inmate service provider JPay to develop a digital education platform for instructors, inmates and prison staff.

September 25, 2014

The Elkridge, Maryland, Correctional Education Association has announced a partnership with inmate service provider JPay to develop a digital education platform for instructors, inmates and prison staff.

The learning management system is a cloud-based platform for educators and inmates students to communicate and exchange course materials. Instructors can load coursework online and inmates can retrieve it by connecting their tablet to a Wi-Fi enabled kiosk.

"The partnership exceeds our expectations for implementing an open, common framework for delivering educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals," said Steve Steurer, executive director of the Correctional Education Association, in a company announcement. "The result, we believe, will be a giant step forward for updating and extending the reach of education in prisons, juvenile facilities and jails."

The CEA plans to offer GED courses, English as a second language, computer literacy, re-entry and life skills, and, in the future, accredited degree courses.

"We're excited to be working with CEA to build this revolutionary platform for correctional education," said Ryan Shapiro, CEO of JPay, in a press release. "We're proud to provide opportunities for incarcerated individuals to change their lives. We see this initiative transforming our industry, resulting in a significant decrease in recidivism."

In a 2014 study by RAND Corp., findings indicate that educated inmates have better chance of attaining employment and of staying out of prison, as inmates who pursue an education are 43 percent less likely to return, compared to those that don't. The study specifically highlighted the need for using technology effectively and developing a platform for education providers and inmates.