Judith discussed the study’s background, as well as the structure of the study, the research questions that underlie it, and how they initially planned to collect data.

Judith also discussed a series of computer-based exercises (CBE) developed by the project to try and quantitatively measure skill acquisition among varying populations of computer users. She then talked about the findings from a field visit she and Kolko did in September.

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You can also view the presentation slides.

TASCHA Talks are bi-weekly sessions to share, discuss, and advance new ideas around topics related to technology and social change. Learn more at tascha.uw.edu/taschatalks.

The following is the update Beth and Judith sent from their time in Brazil:

The study’s research partner, PensamientoDigital, connected us with local researchers and internet professionals in Rio den Janeiro and Porto Alegre (in Rio Grande del Sul). In Rio de Janeiro, we had the chance to chat with a LAN house owner in one of the poorest neighborhoods, Favela Rocinha, about his experiences. He provided valuable insights on user habits and limitations of the study. We also visited two other favelas, both of which are part of a new government program of “pacification”: Santa Marta and Cantagalo. In Cantagalo,we visited a social center called Crianca Esperanca (the visit was featured on their blog. Find their entry here.). The art community center allows free, unrestricted computer access for children starting at the age of three years. In Santa Marta, we were accompanied by researchers currently doing mapping and survey work for the Global Impact Study surveys, and we were delighted to be able to learn from the survey team’s community contacts. We also visited two LAN-houses and a community radio station.

We have been surprised by the significant differences between the two LAN-houses; despite a shared label, the location and clientele were significantly different. We also spent an afternoon at a private LAN-house in a working class neighborhood in the northern part of the city where they piloted instruments with users and watched a roomful of young boys spend the day playing Warcraft on pirate servers. During the visit so far, we have seen public access venues that welcome gaming, those that ban it, and those that block social networking and gaming when there are many users waiting for the computers.

We are currently in Porto Alegre, where we have visited governmental telecenters, a social center called Villa Cruzeiro, LAN houses, and cybercafes. Every visit contributes to a deeper understanding of what people do in public access points. Through screening questions that inquire about their gaming habits, their social-network use, as well as their more instrumental uses like creating resumes and working in spreadsheets, we have been able to create profiles that will be used for the study’s sampling strategy.

The study asks:

• Do people gain any ICT skills (i.e., keyboarding skills, knowledge of operating systems and file structures, etc.) through non-instrumental uses of ICTs?
• Are any skills gained through non-instrumental uses transferable to other (instrumental) uses of ICTs (i.e., searching strategies, information evaluation, synthesis and summary)?
• How do the characteristics and consumption patterns of non-instrumental use differ between public and private access points?
• How do user’s understandings of and attitudes towards ICTs differ between public access sites where the emphasis is on consumption of information versus the creation of content and multimedia?
• How do the characteristics of users affect skill level and activity choice in public access sites?

It’s important to look at public access venues (such as libraries and telecentres) because they are different from private access points (such as home computers). Many public spaces explicitly create collaborative or learning environments as part of their social mission — but in doing so they may also prohibit or discourage non-instrumental use.

This two-year study (2009–2011), led by Beth Kolko, includes fieldwork in Chile and Brazil. Fieldwork will consist of venue and user observations, user and operator interviews, computer skills assessments for users, and a case study on creating content and multimedia at a telecenter in Brazil. Our hypotheses:

1. Novice and experienced users engage in a mix of instrumental and non-instrumental uses of ICT.
2. Because of the surveillance aspects of public use, as well as policies that are in place at certain centers that may encourage or discourage non-instrumental use, the type of non-instrumental uses may differ (with regard to frequency, volume, visibility) in public versus private spaces.
3. Engaging in communication and entertainment activities results in users gaining computer skills, cognitive abilities, content knowledge, and other potential skills.
4. The computer skills gained through non instrumental uses transfer to instrumental uses of ICTs.
5. Public engagement with ICTs for non instrumental uses leverage collaborative shared space, and thus emphasizes specific kind of skills — skills that transfer to other areas of life, including those domains mentioned in the Global Impact Study.
6. Having an opportunity to create multimedia gives people different skill sets than just consuming media, and it also gives them a different sense of themselves as agents and participants in a knowledge and technological society.
7. Some demographic characteristics may affect skill acquisition.

People are more likely to use computers in telecenters, libraries, and cybercafés for social and entertainment purposes than for anything else. (See our Literature Review.) If such non-instrumental uses promote general ICT skill acquisition, the fact that traditional instruments or measurements do not investigate these non-instrumental usage patterns may have hindered our understanding of how people acquire ICT skills that then have impact on their lives.

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