Illinois Expands Tablet Education Program for Incarcerated People as Federal Prison System Lags

The Illinois Department of Corrections announced this week that it has rolled out a new educational content portal on tablets provided to incarcerated people across the state prison system. The portal operates through Edovo, which bills itself as the largest learning platform for incarcerated people in the United States.

According to the state's announcement, the Edovo application now contains "thousands" of educational resources accessible to people serving time in Illinois prisons. The expansion represents a growing trend of states outsourcing educational programming to private technology companies rather than investing in traditional prison education staff and infrastructure.

The announcement provides few details about what specific content the new portal includes, how much the state is paying for the service, or whether incarcerated people or their families bear any costs for accessing the materials. These omissions are significant given the documented history of prison tablet programs that charge inflated rates for basic services while splitting profits with corrections departments.

Prison tablet programs have become a lucrative business model over the past decade. Companies provide tablets to corrections departments at little or no upfront cost, then generate revenue by charging incarcerated people and their families for content, communication services, and other features. Critics have compared the model to predatory lending, noting that captive populations have no alternative providers and families often go into debt to maintain contact with loved ones.

The timing of Illinois's announcement is notable. It comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons faces mounting criticism for failing to provide adequate educational and vocational programming, despite federal law requiring such services. A 2023 Department of Justice Inspector General report found that BOP facilities routinely fail to offer the educational opportunities mandated by statute, leaving thousands of incarcerated people without access to basic literacy programs or job training.

Educational programming in prisons has been shown to significantly reduce recidivism rates. A RAND Corporation study found that incarcerated people who participate in correctional education programs are 43 percent less likely to return to prison than those who do not. Yet funding for prison education has declined dramatically since the 1994 crime bill eliminated Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students.

The Illinois announcement does not specify whether the new content portal includes college-level coursework, vocational training, or primarily basic education materials. It also does not address whether the tablets are provided free of charge to incarcerated people or whether they must purchase them from commissary funds.

Edovo's platform has been adopted by corrections departments in multiple states, but the company has faced questions about its business model and the extent to which it profits from captive populations. The company's website emphasizes that it offers "free" educational content, but does not detail what additional services may carry charges or how revenue is shared with corrections departments.

Prison reform advocates have long argued that states should invest in expanding traditional educational programming with qualified teachers rather than relying on tablet-based systems that may lack adequate oversight or pedagogical rigor. They note that while technology can supplement education, it cannot replace the mentorship and accountability that come from in-person instruction.

The Illinois Department of Corrections did not respond to questions about the cost of the Edovo contract, whether incarcerated people pay fees to access content, or what safeguards are in place to ensure educational quality. The department also did not provide data on how many people are currently using the platform or what outcomes the state hopes to achieve.

As states continue to grapple with mass incarceration and its consequences, the question of how to provide meaningful education and rehabilitation remains urgent. Whether tablet-based platforms like Edovo represent genuine progress or simply another way to extract profit from incarcerated people and their families depends on details that Illinois has not yet made public.