In previous articles, we looked at the barriers that keep digital education out of prisons and detention centres, and at the European countries showing what is possible. This article asks a different question: what difference does digital education actually make? Drawing on research from prison education, criminology and adult learning, it looks at the benefits on three levels. The first is people’s reintegration into society after release. The second is their personal and learning development while in detention; and the third is the institutions themselves.
Social Reintegration
Technology plays an increasingly important role in everyday life, from finding work and communicating with others to managing finances, accessing education and using public services. However, people who spend years in detention with little access to digital tools can leave without the skills they need for these everyday tasks. Providing meaningful access to digital technology in close environments can therefore help reduce the digital gap and equip people with skills that can support their education, employment and participation in society after leaving detention.
Digital education can contribute to inclusion, participation, employability, and professional development. Acquiring digital competences can contribute to social reintegration and potentially help reduce reoffending through meaningful, future-oriented education. The European Crime Prevention Network notes that education and vocational training can also help reduce recidivism by helping people develop skills needed in the job market. Education can also increase employability, strengthen self-esteem and support positive behavioural change.
Personal and learning development
Many people in prison have had negative experiences of education, which can leave them with low confidence. Limited education offers and language barriers can often affect their confidence even more. However, research shows that good use of digital technology can also enable autonomy, self-reflection, and future-oriented thinking (Behan, 2014); UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, 2021). Digital technology can also offer more personalised and flexible learning, so learners can work at their own pace and in ways that suit their individual needs. Other authors show how computers can support more flexible approaches to learning and rehabilitation in prison settings (Champion and Edgar, 2013).
These possibilities are particularly relevant for learners who have experienced difficulties in traditional learning environments or who have faced barriers to participation. For example, offline eReaders loaded with course materials have been used to widen access to tertiary preparation for incarcerated students (Hopkins and Farley, 2015). More broadly, digital and technology-supported approaches can offer alternative ways of accessing and engaging with educational content, such as interactive and multimedia resources or gamification, giving learners different ways to engage with information and creating new opportunities for participation.
Learners themselves describe the impact. In a collection of statements from prisoners at Pöschwies Prison in Switzerland, participants in an education programme spoke of education bringing hope, motivation and curiosity, and of new possibilities for their future:
Through education in prison, I want to become a better person and be a role model for my children and family. I want to stand on my own feet…I even want to do further training and improve myself for the job market.
Institutional and rehabilitation benefits
The benefits are not limited to learners in prisoners or correctional centres; they can also extend to the institutions themselves. In a study across 13 prisons, McDougall et al. (2017) found that introducing digital self-service systems was associated with fewer disciplinary incidents, as well as a reduction in one-year reoffending rates. Educators and other educational staff also benefit when their organisation has a clear digital education strategy.
By supporting learners in using digital tools, and by taking part in training and capacity-building, they develop their own digital competence. This strengthens the quality of education within the institution and helps staff adapt their teaching to an increasingly digital world.
DigiFusE Project
EAEA is working on the DigiFusE project which brings together three educational tools to support learning in closed environments such as prisons, detention centres or reintegration systems.
- Bleep, which supports the acquisition of new skills and approaches
- Triangle, a digital education system focused on vocational skills and labour-market opportunities
- Perspektive, which supports the reintegration of people in detention into the labour market
In September 2026, the DigiFusE consortium gathered in Portugal to plan the project’s next steps. This work will feed into a European methodology to help prisons, detention centres, NGOs and adult education providers promote digital education in complex environments.For more information about the project, its methodology and partners, visit the DigiFusE website and read the third DigiFusE project newsletter.
Digifuse is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
References
Behan, C. (2014). Learning to Escape: Prison Education, Rehabilitation and the Potential for Transformation. Journal of Prison Education and Reentry, 1(1), 20–31.
Behan, C. (2021). Education in Prison: A Literature Review. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.
Champion, N., & Edgar, K. (2013). Through the Gateway: How Computers Can Transform Rehabilitation. London: Prison Reform Trust and Prisoners’ Education Trust.
McDougall, C., Pearson, D. A. S., Torgerson, D. J., & Garcia-Reyes, M. (2017). The effect of digital technology on prisoner behaviour and reoffending: A natural stepped-wedge design. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 13(4), 455–482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-017-9303-5
European Prison Education Association (EPEA). (2022). 62 Statements About Education in Prison: Statements from Prisoners at Pöschwies Prison, Switzerland. https://epea.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/221129-62-statements-about-education-in-prison.pdf
Text: Amaya Gomezgil Gabriel, Maria Gonçalves RibeiroPhotos: Helena-Lopes-Pexels