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The Digital Café: a drop-in public-access computing and learning space

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

The Digital Café is a two-hour weekly drop-in program in a suburb of Vancouver, BC, offering free Internet, computers, and just-in-time volunteer tutor support for tasks such as email, job applications, online government forms, and social media. It began in 2008 as a Community Access Program site. The room was often full before the 3 p.m. start time with adults between 35 and 75, mostly new immigrants.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

  • Volunteer tutors to provide one-to-one just-in-time support; a sociable, informal atmosphere (coffee, tea, snacks).

Constraints

  • The article notes the program operated on a shoestring and that participants' security of access rested precariously on the availability of working computers and volunteer tutors.

Target Learners

  • Adults aged 35-75, mostly new immigrants, referred by employment or social service agencies or the library

Learning Goals

  • Everyday computer tasks, email, job applications, government forms, and social media use

Claims

Examples

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Key Sources

  • 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
Page metadata
Field Value
type design
id digital-cafe-public-access-space
title The Digital Café: a drop-in public-access computing and learning space
description The Digital Café is a two-hour weekly drop-in program in a suburb of Vancouver, BC, offering free Internet, computers, and just-in-time volunteer tutor support for tasks such as email, job applications, online governm...
status review
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-17
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — smythe-2017

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