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Digital Communities Final Report

F Impact on access to services and education

Participation in Education

F.1 Section D, above, discusses participation in computer training and learning arranged by the Digital Communities projects. Participants were also asked a range of questions relating to computer training and education more broadly.

F.2 Twenty-three per cent of Bellsmyre respondents and 18% of North Argyll respondents had taken part in some other computer training, for example training at school, college or work, in the last year. Of those who had taken part in any computer training, 28% of Bellsmyre and 19% of North Argyll respondents reported that this training led to a qualification, compared with roughly a third of those who had participated in computer training in each of the control areas.

F.3 Respondents who had already taken part in computer training leading to a qualification at Wave 1 were also more likely to have taken part in computer training leading to a qualification in the 12 months prior to Wave 3 ( Table F-2). Again, this may suggest that it tends to be people who were already engaged with computers who continued to take this forward since participating in the project, rather than people with more limited previous experience.

F.4 Seventy-three per cent of Bellsmyre respondents and 77% of North Argyll respondents had not taken part in any other education or training, not relating to computers, in the last 12 months, while 13% in Bellsmyre and 11% in North Argyll had taken part in on-the-job training ( Table F-3). Smaller proportions in each area had taken part in further education, university courses, adult education or another type of learning. Differences between the recipient and control areas in terms of participation in education and learning not relating to computers were not significant at the final survey.

F.5 Forty-four per cent of Wave 3 respondents in Bellsmyre and 43% in North Argyll said they were 'very' or 'fairly likely' to take part in some kind of education or training in the next 12 months ( Table F-4). This compares with 61% of baseline respondents in Bellsmyre and 60% of baseline respondents in North Argyll who said they were likely to take part in education or training in the next 12 months at the time of the baseline survey, probably reflecting the fact that at the baseline survey respondents anticipated taking part in education or training relating to the project.

F.6 Wave 3 respondents in Bellsmyre and North Argyll did not appear to be more likely to anticipate taking part in education or training in the next 12 months than respondents in the two control groups.

F.7 Based on these findings, there does not appear to be any concrete evidence that the project will lead to any long-term increase in the uptake of education, training or learning opportunities, although there may have been a short-term increase as some participants took part in training relating to the projects.

F.8 Overall 41% of Bellsmyre respondents and 42% of North Argyll respondents said they would be 'very' or 'fairly likely' to take part in on-line learning or education in the future if it were available. Tables F-5 and F-6 show the likelihood of respondents taking part in online learning in the future at the time of the final survey cross-tabulated by how likely they felt this was at the baseline survey. These tables do indicate a possible shift in attitudes among some respondents who said they were not likely to take part in on-line learning at the time of the baseline survey - for example, in Bellsmyre, 19% of those who originally said they were "not very likely" to take part in on-line learning in the future said they were now "very likely" to take part in such activities. It is worth noting that a much higher proportion of respondents in Bellsmyre than in North Argyll (29% compared with 8%) stated that they did not know how likely they were to take part in on-line learning in the future, while in North Argyll a higher proportion (50% compared with 30% in Bellsmyre) seemed more definite that they were "not very" or "not at all likely" to take part in on-line learning in the future.

F.9 Fifty-five per cent of respondents in Bellsmyre and 54% in North Argyll who had taken part in education or training not relating to computers said they had used their computer either "a lot" or "a fair amount" to help with this education or training ( Table F-7).

Convenience of Accessing Services

F.10 Sixty-six per cent of respondents in Bellsmyre and 59% in North Argyll agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I can access goods and services online now that I could not get before I took part in the project" ( Table F-8). In North Argyll, respondents who did not use computers already at Wave 1 were more likely to "strongly agree" with this statement than those who had used computers already. This suggests that participants do perceive benefits in terms of access to services from taking part in the project.

F.11 However, the surveys also included a series of questions asking about the convenience of accessing a range of specific services, such as post office, bank, etc. The picture emerging from this is more opaque - while some respondents indicated that they would find it more convenient to access these services at Wave 3 compared with Wave 1, others indicated that they would find it less convenient ( Table F-9).

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