Digital access among adults on the margins is not a one-time event but an ongoing, contingent accomplishment requiring an assemblage of resources¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitativer2·q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Access is not an event but an ongoing accomplishment requiring the provisional assemblage of materials such as a working device, connection, password, and tutor. → Smythe 2017
Evidence¶
Smythe 2017¶
Smythe, S., & Breshears, S. (2017). Complicating Access: Digital Inequality And Adult Learning In A Public-Access Computing Space. The Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 29(1), 67-81. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1139334
q2 · i? · qualitative · r2
Ethnographic case study of one participant (Malek) at the Digital Café over a year, drawn from field notes and interviews. The authors report that Malek "moved in and out of digital connectivity" as devices, subscriptions, and support came and went, illustrating access as a provisional assemblage rather than a stable state.
"Malek moved in and out of digital connectivity, which suggests that access is not an event but an ongoing accomplishment that requires the provisional assemblage of different kinds of materials: a familiar and working device, an Internet connection, a password, a charger, a patient tutor, timely and appropriate instruction, and more."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- AI in adult education risks reinforcing existing inequalities via the digital divide, particularly for rural, low-income, and marginalized learners — related
- Digital policies imagine a \"model user\" whose experience contrasts sharply with the actualities of adults on the margins of access — related
- Teachers identify attendance, unreliable devices, prior academic gaps, and COVID-related disruption as compounding contextual barriers to persistence — related
- Infrastructure inequities — chronic bandwidth limitations, power outages, and device incompatibility — severely disrupt proctored assessments and exacerbate educational disadvantages in low-resource settings — related
- During spring 2020 remote instruction, internet connectivity and hardware/software problems interfered with course participation for large shares of undergraduates — related
- AI tools such as chatbots, intelligent tutoring systems, and early alert systems are identified as having potential to serve marginalized students, contingent on ethical governance and infrastructure — related
- Roughly 30 percent of U.S. students (15 to 16 million) lacked adequate internet or device access in late 2020, with rural, Native American, Black, and Latino students disproportionately affected — related
- Reliable Internet access was a larger barrier to remote and hybrid learning than device access, especially in urban areas — related
- Do-it-yourself digital learning alone can exacerbate digital inequalities because learners hit a wall requiring direct guided instruction — related
- Computing education has historically excluded marginalized student populations, and large inequities in access persist — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
digital-access-ongoing-accomplishment |
title |
Digital access among adults on the margins is not a one-time event but an ongoing, contingent accomplishment requiring an assemblage of resources |
description |
Digital access among adults on the margins is not a one-time event but an ongoing, contingent accomplishment requiring an assemblage of resources |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2017 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
recheck_by |
2022 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — smythe-2017 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.