Stephen Downes

In the discussions of the effectiveness of e-learning we rarely hear about its use to extend access to those previously denied the opportunity to learn (the cynic in me thinks that this is because you rarely find the socially excluded working for corporations). But in my mind, this is one of the potentially most powerful impacts of the technology, reaching beyond the gainfully employed (or supported) and enfranchised. This article discussed a platform called HOPE, designed to serve one such group, prison inmates.