One thing that I took from Martha Lane Fox’s speech at this year’s NAACE conference was the statistic that 40% of those people not online were from the most disadvantaged groups in society. Well actually, the statistic that struck me, was that this means that 60% of those not online are from groups other than the most disadvantaged.

My guess would be that these are people who could afford computers and internet access but, for some reason, have chosen not to have it. Maybe they live in a ‘notspot’ – an area where there is still not internet access for some reason. Maybe they do live in an area where there is internet access but for some reason have chosen not to have it; this could because they have not appreciated the value of internet access for learning,. perhaps they feel that no one in their family requires learning, perhaps they have religious or political reasons against internet or technology.

Whatever the reasons, if we are to close the digital divide  the question remains, how can we reach these people?

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