As universities become increasingly reliant on the online delivery of courses for distance education, those students without access to the Internet are increasingly marginalised. Among those most marginalised are incarcerated students who are often from low socio-economic status backgrounds and have limited access to resources. This article reports on four projects that incrementally build on each other, three of which are completed, at the University of Southern Queensland that seek to provide access to higher education for incarcerated students. These projects developed a modified version of Moodle, called Stand Alone Moodle (SAM), which doesn’t require Internet access, but provides the same level of access and interactivity as regular Moodle. EBook readers were also used in two of the projects. A description of the projects, a summary of the results and issues is provided. The projects will be extended to deploy Stand Alone Moodle and tablet computers to correctional centres across Australia with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

In most Australian correctional jurisdictions, prisoners are not allowed access to the internet precluding them from participating in higher education online. Making the Connection is an Australian government funded project which is taking digital technologies, that don't require internet access, into prisons to enable prisoners to enroll in a suite of pre-tertiary and undergraduate programs. A version of the University of Southern Queensland's learning management system has been installed onto the education server of participating prisons. The second stage of the project will see notebook computers preloaded with the learning management system and course materials, allocated to participating prisoners. At the time of writing, the project has been deployed at thirteen sites in Queensland and Western Australia, with a further three sites coming on board in time for semester I 2016 and negotiations underway for further rollout to Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.

Incarcerated students face a number of additional challenges to those faced by most other students studying at a distance. Lack of internet access is especially problematic for those studying in a sector that is increasingly characterised by online and flexible course offerings. In this paper, we report on a project that will attempt to address the digital challenges that hinder access to higher education and provide inclusive learning experiences for incarcerated students. The trial utilises mobile yet secure digital technologies – namely Stand-Alone Moodle (SAM) and eBook readers – to improve access to resources and is about to be trialled with a small sample of incarcerated students participating in the Studying to Succeed course within the Tertiary Preparation Program (TPP) at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). In this paper, we discuss the current provision of higher education in prisons and the challenges resulting from increased reliance on mobile learning technologies in higher education generally. We discuss the potential of the trial project to address digital divide experienced by incarcerated students as compared to the general student population. It is hoped that students will be participating in learning experiences more closely related to those experienced by students outside of the prison system and they will be acquiring relevant e-literacy and e-research skills. In addition, USQ will be fulfilling its obligation in relation to equity of access; and will be addressing the Australian Government’s agenda of increasing participation in higher education by socially and economically disadvantaged groups.

Higher education institutions are increasingly relying on digital technologies that require internet access to support learning and teaching, particularly from a distance. Disadvantaged student groups that do not have access to the internet, such as incarcerated students, are often excluded as a result. This paper reports on a project that will develop and trial a sustainable and innovative learning management system (LMS) called Stand-Alone Moodle (SAM) that is able to operate without internet access. SAM will enable institutions to provide these students with similar course materials, activities and support available to other students, thereby improving the quality of the student learning experience. SAM will be trialled within a Queensland correctional centre and evaluated using a design-based research methodology. The findings and recommendations from the project will be disseminated to learning institutions and correctional centres across Australia to encourage equitable access to education for disadvantaged students. The digital literacies of staff and students, the maintenance of the technology and sufficient access to computer labs all had to be accommodated within the design of the project.

Prisoners in most Australian jurisdictions are not permitted access to online learning technologies due to procedural restrictions prohibiting prisoner access to the internet. Formal education and training delivery to prisoners is usually provided in non-digital forms, generally in the form of blocks of printed text. Although this method enables access to course materials, it does not foster digital literacies in incarcerated students, and these skills are becoming more essential to pursue formal learning upon release from custody. Currently, there are few programs offered to incarcerated students that adequately prepare them for entry into higher education especially providing them with the opportunity to use modern ICTs. This paper reports on an Australian government-funded project, Making the Connection, which is taking digital technologies, that don’t require internet access, into correctional centres to enable prisoners to enroll in a suite of pre-tertiary and undergraduate programs. A version of the University of Southern Queensland’s learning management system has been installed onto the education server of participating correctional centres. The second stage of the project will see notebook computers preloaded with course materials, allocated to participating prisoners. At the time of writing, the project has been deployed at eight correctional centres in Queensland and Western Australia, with negotiations underway for further rollout across Australia.

In most Australian correctional jurisdictions, prisoners are not allowed access to the internet precluding them from participating in higher education online. This paper reports on an Australian government-funded project, Making the Connection, which is taking digital technologies, that don't require internet access, into correctional centres to enable prisoners to enroll in a suite of pre-tertiary and undergraduate programs. A version of the University of Southern Queensland's learning management system has been installed onto the education server of participating correctional centres. The second stage of the project will see notebook computers preloaded with course materials, allocated to participating prisoners. At the time of writing, the project has been deployed at eight correctional centres in Queensland and Western Australia, with negotiations underway for further rollout to Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. It is expected that the technologies and processes developed for this project will enable the delivery of higher education to other cohorts without access to reliable internet access.

summary: 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. Text: Recent research highlights the benefits of higher education for reintegration and reduced recidivism, but limited access to the Internet in prison makes access to this increasingly difficult. Two universities are trialling secure e-learning platforms, providing prison students with transformative learning and greater opportunities upon release. This paper outlines the programs of research conducted by the Open University (OU), UK and the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia. Researchers at these universities hope to combine their knowledge and experience to work on a joint project that will provide digital learning for offenders and equip them with the digital literacy skills they need for further study, employment and reintegration. In the UK, the Open University (OU) has produced a 'walled garden' to provide Access courses on the Virtual Campus (VC), a secure network accessed by most prisons. A whole higher education curriculum and Open Educational Resources (OERs) are planned. However, as

Around the world, various correctional jurisdictions are struggling to enable the delivery of higher education into prisons. At a time when universities are moving increasingly online, very often access to the internet is restricted or disallowed in correctional environments. Three universities, all leading distance education providers in the countries in which they are based, are delivering higher education into prisons using technology to varying extents. This paper reports on regional differences in the provision of distance education into prisons, particularly using technology, in Australia, UK and Turkey. In these three jurisdictions, there are significant differences in prisoner access to computer hardware, personal devices and to the internet. How these differences impact on the delivery of distance education is explored with an examination of various learning initiatives and lessons learned.

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