Certiport E-Rate Survey Shows Less Than Half of K-12 Schools Validate Essential Internet Skills

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ — Certiport today announced a survey of K-12 educators reveals a disparity between stated usage and validated training against accepted standards to leverage the Internet appropriately. About 95 percent of the E-Rate survey respondents, all of whom benefit from the government-subsidized funding for ICT infrastructure and related services, believe the Internet is used as a learning tool in curricula such as language arts, social studies and science. In contrast, only 39 percent reportedly receive targeted training to leverage the Internet in the classroom.

“Over its 10-year history, the E-Rate program has been extremely successful in providing schools with access to the Internet,” said David Saedi, president and CEO of Certiport. “Access is a significant, but not a complete solution, to bridging the Digital Divide in our schools. Teachers and students must now learn and validate their digital skills to ensure they can achieve optimum learning outcomes and succeed in the 21st Century.”

While less than half of teachers say they receive Internet training, only 21 percent of the respondents stated teachers have their Internet and computing skills validated through any known standards-based assessment.

According to the same survey results, students are faring slightly better in Internet-targeted training and skills validation. Approximately 66 percent of the respondents polled said students are offered some form of basic computing course during their secondary education where Internet skills are taught.

Even in schools that provide a basic computing course for students, only 41 percent reportedly provide some form of digital literacy assessment, most of which include an Internet component. From this number, two-thirds reported using “home-grown” assessments, created by the school, district or state, to evaluate digital literacy. All told, only 13 percent of all survey respondents claim their schools use industry-accepted solutions to assess digital literacy, some of which are based upon recognized Internet and computing standards.

Certiport will join other corporate sponsors such as Adobe, Apple and Verizon along with government officials in a two-day forum to discuss E-Rate’s future and to celebrate the program’s accomplishments. Hosted by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) on Wednesday, February 28, the invitation-only roundtable will be held on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

ABOUT CERTIPORT

Certiport prepares individuals and communities with current and relevant digital skills and credentials for the competitive global workforce. These solutions include Certiport Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3(R)) and the Microsoft(R) Office Specialist certification programs delivered by more than 12,000 Certiport Centers worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.certiport.com/.

“Certiport” and “IC3″ are registered trademarks of Certiport, Inc. in the United States and other countries. “Microsoft” is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Certiport

CONTACT: John Pilmer of Certiport, +1-801-369-7535,mediarelations@certiport.com

Web site: http://www.certiport.com/