Subject: Information Services: Broadcasting and Telecommunications (fwd)

Greetings!

For those interested in revenue data from cellular and other wirelesscommunications, read on. Also included in this report from the U.S. Census Bureauis revenue from cable and television.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2004
Patricia Buscher
CB04-231Public Information Office
(301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax)(301) 457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: <pio@census.gov>

Revenues for Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications Top $100 Billion

Revenues of cellular and other wireless telecommunications firms rosefrom $92 billion in 2002 to $104 billion in 2003, an increase of 14percent, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today.

The report, 2003 Service Annual Survey: Information Services CBroadcasting and Telecommunications, shows revenues for the nation = sbroadcasting and telecommunications information firms increased 2 percent, to $490 billion in 2003 from $482 billion in 2002.

According to the report, other highlights (for employer firms) were:

$ Revenues for wired telecommunications carriers were down 6 percent, to $223billion, with fixed long-distance revenues falling 13 percent, to $53 billion.

$ Cable networks revenues increased 12 percent, to $27 billion, withadvertising revenues increasing 14 percent, to $11 billion. Expenses increased 9percent, to $19 billion, led by program and production costs, which increased 14percent, to $10 billion.

$ Cable and other program distribution revenues increased 12 percent between2002 and 2003 to $63 billion; basic programming revenues increased 10 percent, to$38 billion; and revenue from Internet access services increased 79 percent, to$7 billion. Expenses increased 6 percent, to $56 billion, with program andproduction costs increasing 15 percent, to $17 billion.

$ Television broadcasting revenues remained the same, at $37 billion.

Estimates in this report are based on data from the 2003 Service Annual Survey. They contain sampling and nonsampling errors. To keep the identity of anindividual firm confidential, some estimates may be suppressed. Users makingtheir own estimates, based on the survey estimates, should cite the U.S. CensusBureau as the source of the original estimates only. See<http://www.census.gov/econ/www/servmenu.html> for measures of samplingvariability and other survey information.

- posted by Barbara @ 1:52 PM

 
ETS' test of Computer and Information Literady

Greetings!

Below is the text of an article from the issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education dated November 12, 2004

Testing Service to Unveil an Assessment of Computer and Information Literacy

By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

The Educational Testing Service plans to unveil a standardized test this week designed to measure the computer savvy and information literacy of college students.The test will evaluate how well students can judge the validity of online information, build a spreadsheet, compose e-mail messages summarizing a passage, and perform other tasks. Called the ICT Literacy Assessment -- the first three letters stand for "information and communication technology" -- it was developed on the basis of advice from a committee of representatives from seven universities.

Officials of the testing service said the new exam, which students will take online, is unique because it attempts to measure not only proficiency in using computer software, but also information-processing skills that are increasingly important in college and in many jobs.The testing service, which administers the SAT in college admissions, hopes to have colleges give the new exam to students to see how well prepared they are for high-tech assignments."

Students generally arrive at colleges knowing how to use a computer or use technology for a number of purposes, but they're not necessarily the purposes that will make the students successful," said Teresa M. Egan, project manager for new-product development at ETS. "They can chat with their friends, they can download MP3 files, do instant messaging, and all that, but they've kind of lost the ability to home in on a research topic and ... evaluate all the information that's thrown at them."

The first batch of tests is expected to be given in January. During the test's first year or so, the service will release only aggregate results, which will be given to colleges that administer the test. Test takers will not be given individual scores. Institutions can use the data "for resource allocation, curriculum planning, how effective their institution has been with educating students in that area," said Ms. Egan.By 2006, once ETS officials have developed a baseline, she said, they will start giving out scores to test takers, who could use them to place out of courses or to include with job applications.

The scores will consist of ratings indicating a strong, satisfactory, or poor performance in a series of categories, Ms. Egan said.Institutions giving the test in January will pay $20 per student, which Ms. Egan called a "promotional price." The regular price will be about $25 per student, she said. The test was designed with the help of a group of college officials that the company formed last year.

The seven institutions represented are the California Community College System; the California State University System; the University of California at Los Angeles; the Universities of Louisville, North Alabama, and Washington; and the University of Texas System.

'Transformation in Learning'

They based their work on an earlier panel of professors, businessmen, and government officials that ETS convened. That panel's report, "Digital Transformation: A Framework for ICT Literacy," argued for the importance of assessing such skills: "The panel strongly believes that it is time to expand the notion of the digital divide." "The current global public-policy focus is on the detrimental impact of limited access to hardware, software and networks such as the Internet," the report said.

"We believe this characterization of the digital divide must be changed to include the impact of limited reading, numeracy, and problem-solving skills."Barbara A. O'Connor, a professor of communications at California State University at Sacramento, was a member of both panels. "It was becoming abundantly clear that unless students could integrate information technology in with other cognitive skills," she said, "it was really not causing any transformation in their learning."She said she had helped deliver a trial version of the test to her students recently. They "thought it was a really good idea," she said, and told her that they wanted to have individual scores that they could show to potential employers.

Ms. O'Connor said she got involved out of a concern that minority students were not coming to college with the same set of information-management skills as other students. "Many of them don't have access to the higher-end technology at home," she said. She has been a proponent of distance education and has taught Web-based courses. But she said she worries that not all students are prepared to take such courses. "I wanted to make sure we weren't using distance education as a way to disadvantage those minority students," she said.Other tests promise to measure computer literacy as well, Ms.O'Connor said, noting that some colleges in California use a test called the International Computer Driving License.

While that test focuses on whether students can use specific types of software, she said, the new exam "really doesn't take this approach."It is: How would you use those skills in any environment, and how would you use them creatively in problem solving?"The Educational Testing Service plans to announce the test this week at a conference on information technology to be held in Tampa by the League for Innovation in the Community College.

http://chronicle.comSection: Information TechnologyVolume 51, Issue 12, Page A33

Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education

Best regards,

Barbara Semonche

- posted by Barbara @ 10:27 AM