New program will help inmates earn high school diplomas with tablets

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A top supplier of digital devices in U.S. prisons is launching a new program to help incarcerated individuals earn a high school diploma by using the company’s tablets.

Advocates say the expansion in virtual education is promising, especially since many inmates lack basic literacy skills. But some advocates have said there are limits to what that prison technology can accomplish.

The company ViaPath, which sells secure devices and telecommunications services for use in the criminal justice system, has announced that inmates across the country will soon be able to enroll in virtual classes through a partnership with Promising People, an education technology company, and American High School, a private online school based in South Florida that will grant the diplomas.

The asynchronous classes will be available for free on ViaPath’s tablets, 700,000 of which the company says are already in use in nearly 2,000 prisons and jails.

“If you get a high school diploma, you get a secondary education along with some trades and skills. The likelihood of you recidivating back into our prisons are very small,” said Tony Lowden, Chief Social Impact Officer for ViaPath. “We believe there’s an opportunity to help men and women come home differently.”

A meta-analysis by the RAND Corporation found that education significantly reduces recidivism, suggesting that every $1 invested in education in prisons could save $4-5 on reincarceration costs.

Lowden said the high school diploma program will offer a more comprehensive education than existing GED courses and provide inmates with greater earning potential once they’re released. The company said it will also offer career and technical education through virtual reality headsets.

ViaPath maintains that its tablets are free for inmates to use and that it won’t charge for the educational programming. Still, prison telecoms is a lucrative industry, with state and local governments signing multimillion dollar contracts for phone services, tablets and apps that inmates can use to call loved ones, stream music or read e-books — for a fee. Charges for those services can rack up quickly for incarcerated individuals who make just 25 cents an hour, if that, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

After being incarcerated for 11 years in Florida, Ryan Moser knows the conveniences of prison tablets — and the shortcomings.

“There’s a lot of advantages to the tablet. You can study whenever you want,” said Moser, who’s now a freelance journalist and communications consultant.

But using a tablet behind bars isn’t like scrolling on an iPad at home, Moser said. The devices are generally charged or updated at a central kiosk inside the prison, and access can be inconsistent and unpredictable — and is ultimately up to correctional officers.

“I remember it taking four days to get my tablet charged,” Moser said. “If you were a discipline problem or if you were someone that gave them an attitude, they might keep (your tablet) for a week, two weeks.”

Keri Watson heads the Florida Prison Education Project at the University of Central Florida, which offers college-level courses inside prisons. She has questions about the delivery of virtual instruction behind bars but said she’s heartened by efforts to improve access.

“The more programs in as many modalities as possible, the better,” Watson said.

Digital infrastructure has helped prisons continue offering programming at times when volunteers can’t get inside, such as through the COVID-19 pandemic or during a security lockdown.

During the pandemic, Watson said her staff had to shift their in-person classes to virtual instruction through tablets provided by a different company. She said it was a difficult transition.

“The technology was not there,” she said. “So until it can be more like the technology that can be offered to non-incarcerated students, I’m not sure it’s feasible.”

The devices' functions are limited by design for security purposes. Lowden, the ViaPath official, told The Associated Press that the company's tablets will not carry notetaking apps due to security risks like inmates communicating covertly.

Still, advocates say inmates desperately need more access to education to prepare them for their release. According to the most recent annual report for Florida’s state prison system, 1,339 inmates earned a GED in 2022, less than 2% of the state’s incarcerated population of more than 80,000 people.

“While participation in educational programming remains optional, overall inmate participation in these programs continues to rise,” the Florida Department of Corrections said in a statement to the AP. “The Department has focused its resources on programming that addresses functional literacy and vocational training.”

In his years as a GED tutor at a state prison near the Florida Everglades, Moser saw the impact that a basic education could have on his fellow inmates.

“I remember seeing the looks on guys’ faces,” Moser said. “Getting into education and accomplishing something there was one of the proudest moments for some of these guys in their life.”

Moser said the virtual high school diploma program could help meet the basic educational needs of inmates and let them sidestep waiting lists for in-person classes. But just like on the outside, he said there’s “no substitute” for incarcerated students being able to sit in a real classroom and learn from a qualified teacher.

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.