The 2003 U. S. Census Bureau report on Computer and Internet Use contains interesting data regarding its usage here in the United Stated. Although many households are now using, or purchasing more home computers for use and "surfing" the Internet, there are still a large number of households not yet taking advantage of these tools, particularly for e-learning purposes, largely due to the associated costs of purchasing the equipment or the service provider fees that are required.
Of particular interest is the data reported regarding computers and Internet use among adults. In summary:
Overall use of computers by adults (> 18 years of age) is less prevalent than use by children.
64% of adults used a computer at some location (home, school or work) in 2003 as compared to 86% of children.
In the past twenty years, the proportion of adults (> 18 years of age) using a computer has grown, from 18% in 1984 to 36% in 1993 and then to 64% in 2003. From 1997 to 2003, use of Internet among adults jumped from 22% to 60%.
Of the adults surveyed, 66% had a computer at home, and among those, 83% of them used the computer. 59% of adults had Internet access at home and 82% of that group actually used the service.
More than half of the working adults used a computer at work and 42% of that group used the Internet on the job as well.
Among adult students, 85% said they used a computer at school, and 66% used the Internet there as well.
Adults use of technology varied with their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. For example, adults with an advanced degree had the highest rates of computer use anywhere. Whereas, Asian or non-Hispanic White adults (about 69% each group) were more likely to use a computer than Blacks or Hispanics (51% and 41% respectively).
People 65 years of age and older had the lowest rates of computer use (only 28%) and Internet use (25%) than was the case for other age groups.
The study goes on to provide data and comparisons of computer and Inernet use by sex as summarized below:
In 2003, more women than men used a computer at home by a small margin. This reversed the "gender gap" that was seen in the 1980's and 1990's. Women's Internet use also exceeded that of men's in the 2003 report.
At work, women report higher rates of computer use than men as noted in the first Census Bureau report in 1984. In 2003, 47% of women and 39% of men used the Internet on the job.
In 2003 the technology use-intensive office and administratiave support occupations accounted for 23% of all working women and 6% of working men.
The use of computers at work also differs by the occupation group. Professional, or "white collar" occupations had the highest percentage of workers using a computer. For women, the highest number of computer users were in the management, business, and financial occupations.
If you are an educator or developer of e-learning programs, these statistics are relevant and show us the potential this market has in the coming years. If you have not yet downloaded a copy of this latest report you should visit the U.S. Census Bureau website and download the .PDF file for a more detailed review.
Source: http://www.WeTrainU.blogspot.com
Copyright M. A. Webb, 2004-2006. All Rights Reserved
PUBLISHING AND REPRINT RIGHTS: You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your website, free of charge, as long as the author's information and web link are included at the bottom of the article and the article is not changed, modified or altered in any way. The web link should be active when the article is reprinted on a web site or in an email. The author would appreciate an email indicating you wish to post this article to a website, and the link to where it is posted.
