Collaborative learning in environments with restricted access to the internet: Policies to bridge the digital divide and exclusion in prisons through the development of the skills of inmates

The deprivation of freedom for the prisoners, involves not only physical isolation, but also digital, which implies a strong isolation particularly painful in an “information society”. Spanish prison population is deprived of access Internet and all ICT that could contact inmates with outdoor life, this is mainly due to security issues. Not having enough ICT skills is a new cause of social exclusion. The objective of this research was to identify the key issues which should be focused by policy makers to avoid digital divide among prison population. A survey among inmate population in all the five penitentiary centers in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, was undertaken to obtain a sample of 380 inmates. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was carried out to explain prisoners' ICT Skills, in bias to inmate's social skills, general skills and attitude towards collaborative learning. For inmates, who are characterized by their low education level, results shown the relevance of having general and social skills to be able to have more ICT skills. Then, collaborative learning in prison it is shown as a way to bridge both walls: the physical (better reinsertion and no recidivism) and the digital one.