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September 21, 2000: This message was distributed by Papyrus News, a free e-mail distribution list on the global impact of information technology on language, literacy, and education. Feel free to forward this message to others, preferably with this introduction. For information on Papyrus News, including how to (un)subscribe or access archives, see <http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/web/faculty/markw/papyrus-news.html>.
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Excerpts below. See the following URL to read an introduction and download the study as an MS Word file: http://www.edc.org/spotlight/Tech/ctcnet2000.htm
Who Goes There? Longitudinal Case Studies of Twelve Users of Community Technology Centers
Introduction
The Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) is a national membership organization that promotes and nurtures nonprofit, community-based efforts to provide computer access and learning opportunities to the general public and to disadvantaged populations. The organization comprises more than 300 affiliates that include multiservice agencies, community networks, adult literacy programs, job training and entrepreneurship programs, public housing facilities, YMCA's, public libraries, schools, cable television access centers, and after-school programs. Located in both urban and rural areas, these nonprofit organizations offer affordable and cost effective opportunities for individuals from all walks of life to learn about and use technology in a supportive environment.
This report is third in a series funded by a National Science Foundation grant to examine the impact of community technology centers on participants' quality of life and learning opportunities. The first report (Mark, Cornebise, & Wahl, 1997) was based on findings from interviews with 131 people at five CTCNet affiliates. Major findings were that community technology centers positively affected people's lives in eight major areas: job skills and access to employment opportunities, education and outlook on learning, technological literacy as a means to achieve individual goals, academic skills and knowledge, personal efficacy, use of time and resources, civic participation, and social and community connections.
The second report (Chow, Ellis, Mark, & Wise, 1998) was based on results from a national survey of 817 people at 44 community technology centers. This survey was designed to increase our understanding of the impact of CTCs, particularly in the areas of employment, learning, personal gains, and sense of community. The results indicated that across the country, and in a variety of settings, community technology centers were producing outcomes like those reported in the 1997 study. For example, tech centers are an important resource for obtaining job skills and learning about employment opportunities. Sixty-five percent of respondents took classes at a technology center to improve their job skills, and 30% used the Internet at their centers to look for a job. Job seaches on the Internet appeared to be associated with successful outcomes. In the area of learning and personal gain, more than half of the respondents felt much more positive about themselves as learners as a result of class participation at the center. The survey results showed that community technology centers fostered a sense of community by promoting a comfortable, supportive atmosphere in which to learn about computer technology. Eighty-two percent of respondents nationwide indicated that being in such an environment was fairly or very important to them. The survey also supported findings from the prior study that community technology centers serve a mostly low-income, nonwhite population. Most center visitors take classes and also visit their center during public access times when computers and related technologies are available for personal use.
The first two studies indicated that community technology centers impacted people's lives in the areas of employment, learning, increased confidence, and sense of community, and that this impact was present from one type of center to another, and from one region of the country to another. However, both studies contain only a snapshot of the areas of impact discussed, whether it was taken at the time of the interview as in the first study, or was captured through the survey given in connection with the second study. The purpose of the present study was to understand how community technology centers affect people's lives over a period of time. Given a reinvigorated national agenda to bridge the digital divide, this study offers a close-up look at how community technology centers help people cross that bridge and as a result, benefit in ways they had never anticipated......
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