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Tweed , whose company recently won a Google Social Impact Award , believes fixing this issue will have a transformative effect on society .

“ All the evidence suggests that improving the educational levels of inmates cuts reoffending ,” he said . “ However , providing education to inmates is incredibly challenging for a variety of reasons .”

The challenge : Delivering education in prisons

Educating prisoners is the domain of the Learning and Skills teams based at the institutions . However , the nature of the prison environment often makes this task difficult . Just moving prisoners from their cell into a classroom can take a long time and takes place in a context where staff shortages are commonplace and also where disruption can occur at any moment .

“ Prisons just aren ’ t good places to deliver education . Just getting them into the room is hard . But then , of course , you actually have to deliver the education and that ’ s a challenge in itself ,” said Tweed .

In UK prisons , as well as in many institutions worldwide , there is a preponderance of neurodiversity and learning difficulties . Illiteracy and innumeracy are commonplace and many people enter prison with few skills .

“ The sad truth is many arrive with no skills and leave without them , too . This makes reoffending all too likely ,” said Tweed . “ But digital offers us a way forward as it means learning can take place in the cell and at the pace the learner requires .”

However , giving prisoners laptops comes with both concerns and challenges . The Internet is banned in British prisons and in other jurisdictions due to security concerns . Previous attempts to provide prisoners with IT have led to hacking incidents . Yet Tweed says , unless we give prisoners access to the digital world , we are storing up trouble for the future .

He said : “ The truth is , we live in a digital world . Most of us wouldn ’ t dream of leaving the house without our phones . Yet , when people are released from prison , they do so without any device or even any experience of how to operate in a digital world . Everything is online yet prisons are completely offline .”

The solution : Coracle ’ s approach to prison education

To overcome these issues , Tweed and his team worked with Google to choose the Chrome operating system which stood out as the best system on which to run its Osprey VLE platform .

“ The nature of Chrome OS means it ’ s great for us . It ’ s virus free and very secure , which provides a lot of assurance to our governmentbased clients ,” said Tweed .

“ No one has ever been able to hack our devices and make them go online . You can only use them for the purposes for which they are intended .”

With a robust system in place , prisoners can be entrusted with a device they can use in their cells unsupervised .

Tweed said : “ Our service means we can track what a prisoner has been learning . We can also act as a bridge between the learner and the education provider . We pass over their coursework and update the devices .

“ I don ’ t think we are replacing classroom learning , but we are reducing the reliance we have on it . It means inmates can learn independently , in their own time and space .”

The results : Impact and potential

While the programme is still in its growth phase – with 2,750 devices deployed – its scalability presents a powerful opportunity . Expanding access to Coracle laptops across the prison estate could deliver substantial cost savings by reducing reoffending while also addressing the deeper social challenges posed by digital exclusion .

The results of Coracle ’ s work are promising , with evidence pointing to a significant demand for education among prisoners .

NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO HACK OUR DEVICES AND MAKE THEM GO ONLINE . YOU CAN ONLY USE THEM FOR THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THEY ARE INTENDED .

Intelligent SME . tech

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