Cengage Learning Survey Gauges Importance of IT Achievement among Students

Study indicates IT professors favor proficiency testing prior to graduation

Stamford, CT – - June 19, 2006 – Cengage Learning, a part of The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC), today released survey results examining professors’ and students’ views on IT proficiency. The findings show that professors view IT skills as critical to success in both the academic and work worlds and find the overwhelming majority of professors in support of proficiency testing.

The Cengage Learning survey compiled the opinions of 1,287 professors, the majority of whom have been teaching for more than 10 years at four-year or two-year colleges and universities. The professors teach IT courses at their respective institutions and indicated that their pupils represent a fairly even split of both male and female students.

In addition to highlighting professors’ views on IT proficiency, the survey identifies the IT skills professors believe are most important, as well as those most common for gauging proficiency. The study also identifies the skills students are most proficient in, from the professor’s point of view.

Key survey findings include:

  • 53% of respondents agreed on mastery of Microsoft Office programs as the benchmark in determining computer proficiency. This is not an overwhelming majority of professors, so there is still a need for debate around the true definition of computer proficiency.
  • Almost all of the respondents agree that it is imperative for students to prove their IT proficiency before they are allowed to graduate, and that mastering IT skills is considered to be a key component of the job skill toolbox.
  • Most students are considered advanced in the following skills: email, surfing the Web, typing, IM/chat, Microsoft Word, MySpace, gaming MP3 downloads and Microsoft PowerPoint. The skills in which they are lacking the most include: programming, photoshop/graphics, Web site creation and e-commerce.
  • An overwhelming majority of professors surveyed agree that Microsoft Office programs are crucial for academic success. The least important skills in fostering academic achievement include blogging, MySpace, gaming, MP3 downloads, IM and podcasting.

“This survey reinforces what we have known all along—that it is vital for college students to cultivate the necessary IT skills so that they may not only succeed in the classroom, but also increase their marketability upon entering a competitive workforce,” said Alar Elken, senior vice president and general manager, Technology and Trades Division of Course Technology. “Given that IT skills are so critical to academic and professional success, it’s important for the academic community to examine best practices for imparting these skills to students as well as ensuring that students are IT proficient before the end of their academic careers.”

If you are interested in seeing the complete results of the Cengage Learning IT Proficiency survey or would like more information on this or future surveys, please contact Lindsay Brown at lindsay.brown@thomson.com.


About The Thomson Corporation and Thomson Course Technology

The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2005 revenues of $8.70 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information, software tools and applications to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate e-learning and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. Course Technology (www.course.com) is part of Cengage Learning and the worldwide leader in computing education, offering more than 1,600 print and innovative technology-based products for business and technology training.