Table 5.2
Internet Activities - Intended vs. Actual
| Activities |
Intended* |
Actual** |
| Searched for work or new
career opportunities |
68% |
74% |
| Searched for medical or
healthrelated information |
58% |
74% |
| Searched for information
on training and other education-related activities |
48% |
85% |
| Searched for information
on government services or programs |
53% |
69% |
| Compared prices between
different products and services |
44% |
70% |
| Searched for information
on community groups and services |
8% |
59% |
| * "How likely is it
that you would use the Internet in the next year for the following
activities?" Entrance (n=54) |
| ** "In the past 3 months,
have you done any of the following activities on the Internet at
St Christopher House?" Exit
(n=40) |
The broader community needs assessment found
that the presence of community-based Internet access and training increased
the use rates in the social sub-groups that were traditionally found to
have low or lagging technology adoption rates in Canada (for example,
low income, less education), and these were actually significantly higher
than the national average. In fact, providing access in an established
community organization that was already familiar to residents helped facilitate
usage. Facilitating access and training through a community organization
(which also offers many other services) has helped draw many ‘near
users’ on-line. In fact, in the Toronto study, there was a seven-fold
increase in the likelihood of people using a public access site to go
on-line than the Canadian average.
|