Bridging the Gap: Integrating Technology in Prison Teaching

At Novus, we provide a vast range of education opportunities in order to meet the individual needs of each learner.

However, with the digital landscape constantly evolving, it is imperative that we provide digital education to prepare learners for the technological world they will re-enter on release.

The current landscape of teaching in prisons

Engaging learners in prison education can be challenging. Approximately 47% of learners entering the prison system have no prior qualifications, and over 30% are neurodivergent. Providing learners with basic functional skills such as English and maths is essential for them to find employment upon release.

But functional skills alone are no longer enough. The Lloyds Bank 2024 Consumer Digital Index found that 10 million workers in the UK still lack the essential digital skills modern employers require. With most job applications, workplace communication, and everyday services now online, digital literacy has become as fundamental as reading and writing. For learners who have spent time in custody, that skills gap can grow quickly, and providing digital education in prison is now just as important as any other subject.

Integrating technology in prison teaching

There are clear and lasting benefits to incorporating digital tools into prison education, both for learners and for the wider education team.

Reducing reoffending

Gaining digital skills equips learners with the knowledge needed to find employment upon release, which is one of the strongest protective factors against reoffending. Employment requires digital confidence at almost every stage, from completing an online application and attending a video interview to navigating a workplace system on day one. At Novus, we deliver the Digital Functional Skills Qualification (DFSQ), giving learners nationally recognised credentials that signal digital competence to employers.

Increased access to educational opportunities

Access to digital education opens new opportunities across the learning journey. Learners can engage with new technologies including AI tools, develop their digital skills alongside core subjects like English and maths, and gain confidence with the platforms and interfaces they will encounter in employment and daily life. Digital tools also allow tutors to deliver richer, more varied lessons, using video, interactive resources, and AI-assisted planning to engage a wider range of learning styles.

Challenges with digital education in prison

Prison education carries additional complexities that make embedding digital more challenging than in mainstream settings. Security requirements limit connectivity, restrict some software, and mean every new tool must be carefully assessed before it reaches a classroom. At Novus, we ensure the relevant policies and procedures are in place to provide digital opportunities safely and securely for both staff and learners.

Novus's approach to digital education

Digital tools in the classroom

At Novus, we work hard to provide our learners with the opportunities they need to thrive outside a prison setting. This is why we are dedicated to incorporating digital literacy across our prison education programmes. Colleagues across our sites have embraced these tools in a range of creative and practical ways.

Digital learning in action across our sites

Digital skills and employability at HMP Stafford

Colleagues at HMP Stafford have been embedding digital tools across their curriculum, following a training day delivered by our Digital Learning Team. AI is now embedded across all areas of the curriculum, and Open Borders is used regularly to give learners an awareness of how digital technology is becoming an integral part of daily life. Learners have reflected positively on these experiences in end-of-course surveys.

Online exams at HMP Low Newton

HMP Low Newton has been running online exams for over two years. Learners and colleagues have benefitted greatly from this approach, which builds digital confidence while also familiarising learners with the kind of online assessment they may encounter in further education or employment.

Preston Press: a learner-led digital project at HMP Preston

At HMP Preston, learners in digital skills classes have been producing their own newsletter, Preston Press, under the guidance of Novus Digital Skills Tutor Usman. Launched in 2024, the project combines digital skills, literacy development, communication, teamwork, and creativity in a single real-world brief. It is a practical example of digital education that goes beyond the screen and into skills that employers directly value.

TeacherMatic: supporting educators with AI

TeacherMatic is a comprehensive AI-powered toolkit designed to support teaching colleagues. It includes a wide range of generators that help educators create lesson plans, quizzes, learning activities, and schemes of work. By reducing planning time, TeacherMatic frees tutors to focus on what matters most: time with learners in the classroom.

We have tested the platform across a number of sites with excellent results.

The Novus Digital Strategy

Our Novus Digital Strategy sets out our vision for developing digital skills across our provision. It was built on the innovative work our colleagues had already been doing, and it focuses on three things: building learners' digital skills so they can thrive on release, developing our tutors' confidence and capability with digital tools, and embedding digital across every part of our curriculum rather than treating it as a standalone subject. Even a short sentence can leave a learner at a digital disadvantage. The strategy exists to make sure that does not happen.

Support for educators and practitioners

Research conducted by our Digital Learning Team found that one of the main barriers to embedding essential digital skills into courses was the lack of confidence of educators and trainers. We have since provided our educators and trainers with the necessary training and tools to feel confident delivering digital in the classroom.

CPD sessions at HMP Wetherby

Since the beginning of 2023, colleagues at HMP Wetherby have been developing their ability to embed digital across planning, delivery, and assessment.

Facilitated by Tony, a Novus Digital Learning Technologist, over six hours of CPD sessions have been delivered to support colleagues in improving their own digital skills and finding new ways to use digital in their lessons. The impact has been tangible, with tutors going on to develop their own digital resources for the classroom.

More broadly, colleagues across our sites have access to Thrive Learning, the LTE Group's professional development platform, which offers thousands of modules covering digital skills, wellbeing, and wider professional development.

To find out more about how Novus supports learners through digital education in prison, explore our digital skills provision or get in touch.