Given that people learn how to use computers and the internet through hands-on mentoring, it is probable that differential access to mentors will affect the acquisition of useful computing skills. People without these skills will be especially at risk when they live and work in neighborhoods and work groups where few others have such skills. The "digital divide" describes differences in useful access to computing and the internet (by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, life-cycle, location, etc.). Hence the "double digital divide" refers to the particular difficulties that people without such skills may suffer if they are located in the "wrong" neighborhoods and work groups. We use already-collected, geo-coded census and survey data to investigate this.

Supported by the Office of Learning Technologies, Human Resources Canada