Technology-enriched learning spaces and their relevance to prison education in Nigeria

E Ezeja Ogili
Institute of Management and Technology
Enugu, Nigeria

Nigeria, the country with the largest population in Africa (140 million) also has the largest number of prisons on the continent.

The role of incarceration is two-fold -- to ensure the security of the society, and to rehabilitate and reintegrate ex-convicts. Nigeria still faces significant problems in fulfilling the latter function, and this study highlights the ways in which the use of technology-enriched learning spaces (TELS) in prison education can create new opportunities for inmates.

TELS is based on an ideology of sharing and openness, and it encourages the adaptation of the learning process to individual needs. Through virtual lectures, involving texts, images, sound, video and interactivity, TELS can widen prisoners' access to education; and such rich learning experiences can play a positive role in the rehabilitation of ex-convicts and provide support to them in finding a new direction in their lives when they rejoin the society.