Researchers (Bosah, 1998; Lenhart, 2010) differentiate between digital consumers and digital creators and maintain that children from low-income families are more likely to be digital consumers than digital creators. This discrepancy is viewed as detrimental to low socioeconomic individuals and is another feature of the digital divide (Mason & Dodds, 2005; Galuszka, 2007). In the early days digital users were differentiated by the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ with low socioeconomic groups being unable to afford to purchase digital hardware. This divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has subsequently decreased with many low socioeconomic groups now being in possession of digital devices. However, a divide, still exists but less around whether low SES individuals have access to digital devices and more around how they use digital devices. Hobbs and Jensen, (2009), articulate that ‘digital citizenship’ and ‘new media literacies’ are essential components for success in the new technological world that we live in. Such skills are cultivated through digital creativity rather than passive digital consumption, putting low socioeconomic learners at risk unless educators intervene. Bosah (1998) proposes that technologies are in relatively high use in lower education and socio economic groups, but are connected with the consumption of content for entertainment purposes. The use of digital technology in higher socio economic individuals is aligned with the production and consumption of content. In addition, this group is more associated with work and study related activities. More advanced information literacy skills play an important role in ensuring that users have the opportunities to use digital technology in an advantageous manner (Ebo, 1998; Besser, 2001). Besser (2001) states that Internet developers are producing more digital content for consumption rather than for creation. Thus, more media designed for consumption and a divide between those who have the skills to create and those who do not is producing a disturbing trend, exacerbated by the need for learners to be active rather than passive. It is extremely important for educators in this world of new technologies to understand the differences in behaviour and how they affect our learners and be ready to counteract any inequity through education.

This study investigates how a low and high socioeconomic group of children use technology at home and explores qualitative differences between these two groups in terms of their use of digital technology in order to better understand these qualitative differences. The study utilises a survey of children differentiated by socioeconomic status through school SES ratings and asks four important research questions:

1. How does access to digital technologies at home differ between high and low socioeconomic groups of school aged children?
2. How do low and high socioeconomic groups of students differ in terms of their engagement in different after school activities during a typical week?
3. How do low and high socioeconomic groups of school aged children differ in a variety of after school digital activities?
4. How do low and high socioeconomic groups of school aged children differ in digital consumption, creation and communication activities?

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