XMA provides key for prison offenders to learn online

XMA Ltd has designed and delivered a pioneering system which enables offenders, a group once forbidden to use the internet, to benefit from the online portfolio of learndirect courses.

The pilot scheme, which is being masterminded by Ufi (the company behind learndirect) is part of a £1.5 million European Social Fund (ESF) project to provide web-based learning and advice services to offenders approaching the end of a custodial sentence, with the aim of reducing the risk of re-offending on release.

It represents a shift in mindset and culture both inside and outside the prison service; and with the ban on internet usage having been partially lifted, prisons are offering practical assistance to offenders to get an education, and with remarkable results.

So far, the learndirect service has been delivered to 15 per cent of the UK’s public and private sector prisons, with more than 2500 offenders in custody and in the community being enrolled on around 12,000 learndirect courses, with over 2000 qualifications being achieved in numeracy and literacy at levels one and two.

Users can also take online exams – just like other learndirect learners -because the architecture of the system is such that it allows them access to external URLs permitted by the prison service. Phase 2 of this project has extended access to websites such as OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examination Board) and BCS (British Computer Society) to allow participation in online exams in numeracy, literacy and ICT.

The success of the scheme is also highlighted in the low drop-out rates by those using the online service. With a less than two per cent withdrawal rate, one prison Governor who is involved in the ESF Pathways Project has said this e-learning pilot,

“... could well be one of the most important new initiatives in the prison service in recent years.”

Another significant and practical benefit which has long term implications for offenders is the online availability of user-records and tutor notes which, in one aspect, helps them seamlessly continue their learning when they are released into the community. This is a key benefit of the learndirect approach to helping learners in custody improve their skills - their courses can be continued on release at a local learning centre or at home if they have internet access. The prison population can be very transient, therefore this approach also enables offenders to continue their courses if transferred elsewhere.

These technological accomplishments mean that the XMA-designed system is now delivering learndirect to nearly 20 prisons across the UK with a further handful of prisons offering the service to offenders via CD-based delivery or through outreach at a learndirect centre.

For XMA, delivering innovative learning network infrastructures is nothing new. The company already supplies systems to education and public sector organisations.

But what was new to the XMA team was working in such an environment where IT security and restricted access is paramount. This meant designing a secure and reliable Local Area Network (LAN) service with security management software to prevent any possible abuse of the system by users.

This software limits access and ensures the offenders can only navigate the system which is available to appropriate learning sites identified by Ufi. Any unauthorised attempts will be tracked by the software system and automatically stopped. The system also provides a full audit trail of each individual LAN as an extra security measure.

The logistics of supplying such a software system which had to work as a single solution, and be delivered into a secure environment, highlights XMA’s strong technical and project management experience.

The team worked alongside Ufi in the design stages of the project to ensure the configuration met their needs as well as ensuring the delivery was scheduled and agreed by all parties and the system met the project’s objectives.

And, as part of the ongoing support, XMA also provides a remote managed service to all of the prisons using the Ufi secure LAN solution from its Network Operations Centre in Nottingham.

Helen Wheeler, Project Manager for Ufi, said, “The strong partnership between Ufi and XMA, alongside a shared vision of what the project could become, has really helped make this project such a success. “XMA’s technical expertise and flexible approach is crucial as is the good understanding of the risks involved in such a project and how to overcome them. Working closely with Ufi, XMA has ensured learndirect learning can be delivered safely and securely. XMA has made Ufi’s vision a reality. “Their genuine interest in opening up this new market and their willingness to go that little bit further has shown the Prison Service how a successful, secure and safe elearning system can be delivered to offenders.”

XMA’s Project Manager John O’Connor, who has been working with Ufi on the ESF Pathways Project, said: “This innovative project highlights XMA’s high degree of skills and expertise in providing solutions to complex requirements. Such systems can be tailored for use by other organisations, not just prisons, whose requirements are security-sensitive and include limited access for users.”

The Ufi project continues to evolve and it is expected that the pilot scheme will go one step further and allow selected offenders access to secure email to enable them to directly contact and communicate with prospective employers prior to release.

XMA’s work with offenders doesn’t stop there. As well as working with Ufi to provide secure learning solutions within the Prison Service, XMA is supporting NOMS (National Offender Management Service) in the delivery of proof of concept projects for the provision of further secure services to offenders.