From Prisons to Programming: Fostering Self-Efficacy via Virtual Web Design Curricula in Prisons and Jails

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a virtual, college-accredited web design course in prisons can effectively boost incarcerated individuals' self-efficacy and digital literacy, aiding their social and professional reintegration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 12-week virtual web design curriculum tailored for correctional facilities, highlighting design principles that foster self-efficacy and digital skills in incarcerated learners.

Findings

Participants showed increased self-efficacy in digital skills.

The curriculum facilitated engagement with social issues through web projects.

Virtual instruction was effective across multiple correctional facilities.

Abstract

Self-efficacy and digital literacy are key predictors to incarcerated people's success in the modern workplace. While digitization in correctional facilities is expanding, few templates exist for how to design computing curricula that foster self-efficacy and digital literacy in carceral environments. As a result, formerly incarcerated people face increasing social and professional exclusion post-release. We report on a 12-week college-accredited web design class, taught virtually and synchronously, across 5 correctional facilities across the United States. The program brought together men and women from gender-segregated facilities into one classroom to learn fundamentals in HTML, CSS and Javascript, and create websites addressing social issues of their choosing. We conducted surveys with participating students, using dichotomous and open-ended questions, and performed thematic and quantitative analyses of their responses that suggest students' increased self-efficacy. Our study discusses key design choices, needs, and recommendations for furthering computing curricula that foster self-efficacy and digital literacy in carceral settings.