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This paper describes the findings of an OECD project examining ICT impact measurement and analyses based on official statistics. Both economic and social impacts are covered and some results are presented. It attempts to place ICT impacts measurement into an Information Society conceptual framework, provides some suggestions for standardising terminology and methodologies, and advocates for further work in a number of hardware and software areas. (A bibliography is included. Contains 19 footnotes, 4 figures and 3 tables.)

This paper describes the current policies and initiatives regarding the application of technology in Canada, Mexico and the United States. It also analyzes the need for policy development regarding technological networks, equipment, and educational content. The report also includes recommendations regarding specific initiatives for tri-national collaboration in the use of technology to improve higher education. The contents include descriptions of the policies and initiatives at the federal, regional, and state (provincial) levels in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Institutional policies and initiatives are also examined as are collaborations between business and higher education. The paper concludes with a summary of current policy climate in the three countries and suggests opportunities for cross-border collaboration. These include development of tri-national policies regarding accreditation of distance education courses and portability of students' knowledge and skills acquired among institutions and across borders; trinational staff and faculty training in the use of technology; trinational discipline--specific forums for faculty with similar interest; implementation of pilot projects; creation of a mechanism for international and inter-institutional sharing of information and experience; and creation of consortia and partnership models. (JLS)

After three decades of decline, the amount of time spent by parents on childcare in the U.S. began to rise dramatically in the mid-1990s. Moreover, the rise in childcare time was particularly pronounced among college-educated parents. Why would highly educated parents increase the amount of time they allocate to childcare at the same time that their own market returns have skyrocketed? After finding no empirical support for standard explanations, such as selection or income effects, we offer a new explanation. We argue that increased competition for college admissions may be an important source of these trends. The number of college-bound students has surged in recent years, coincident with the rise in time spent on childcare. The resulting "cohort crowding" has led parents to compete more aggressively for college slots by spending increasing amounts of time on college preparation. Our theoretical model shows that, since college-educated parents have a comparative advantage in college preparation, rivalry leads them to increase preparation time by a greater amount than less-educated parents. We provide empirical support for our explanation with a comparison of trends between the U.S. and Canada, and a comparison across racial groups in the U.S.

Papers on the education and training of librarians, which were presented at the 1983 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference, include: (1) "The Role of New Technology in the Librarianship Syllabus," in which J. A. Large and R. F. Guy (United Kingdom) describe possible problems related to the integration of new technology in library school curricula and the experience of introducing such instruction at the College of Librarianship Wales; (2) "Teaching New Technologies: Whose Role Is It?" in which G. Edward Evans (United States) outlines his view that library schools must teach students about operations, applications, and use of information/telecommunications technology; (3) "The Codified System of Post-School Training of Librarians in the Slovak Socialist Republic," a report by Horst Hogh (Czechoslovakia) on that country's permanent cyclical continuing education system for librarians; (4) "Comparative Trends in Library and Information Science Curricula in the USA, Canada, and the Federal Republic of Germany--A Study Originating from the IFLA Project 'Equivalency and Reciprocity'," in which Diann D. Rusch focuses on educational requirements and specializations and on the response of library schools to changes in the job market; and (5) "The Training of Librarians for Technological Society. Polish Experience and Problems" by Stefan Kubow (Poland). (ESR)

Papers on information technology which were presented at the 1985 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Technology in the Public Library: The Impact on our Community" (Kenneth E. Dowlin, United States); (2) "Software Evaluation: Sources and Resources in the United Kingdom" (Stephen Flood, United Kingdom); (3) "Exploiting Technology to Build a Canadian Library and Information Network" (Cynthia J. Durance, Canada); (4) "Linked Systems Project in the United States" (Sally H. McCallum, United States); (5) "Assimilating the Micro: The Use of Microcomputers in Public Library Services" (Leena Siitonen, United States); and (6) "Statistical Measures for Library Accountability" (Daniel O. O'Connor, United States). (THC)

Papers on the application of statistics to library research and library administration which were presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Price Indexes for Library Materials: Steps toward International Standardization" by Frederick C. Lynden (United States); (2) "Australian Census of Library Services: A Pragmatic Approach" by Nick Mayman and G. G. Allen (Australia); (3) "Statistical Model for Data Analysis and Networks" by Daniel O. O'Connor (United States), which presents an evaluation model based on the probability of satisfying a request for services, and the average waiting time and average cost of satisfying a request; (4) "Viewpoint of a Network Administrator and a University Library Administrator," a review by Glyn T. Evans (United States) of the availability of statistical reports from bibliographic utilities and the use of OCLC distribution tapes as a source of management data; (5) "Aspects of Library Statistics in Brazil" by Maria Beatriz Pontes de Carvalho; (6) "Standardization of Statistics: The Experience of the Quebec University Libraries" by Claude Bonnelly (Canada) and other members of a statistics task force; and (7) "Library Management Information Systems: Concept, Potential, and Plan of Action" by Neal K. Kaske (United States), which discusses library management information systems at local, state, regional, national, and international levels. (ESR)

Papers on the impact of information technology on library services and the provision of library services to ethnic and linguistic minorities which were presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "The Challenge of Electronic Technologies to the Information Society: A Call for Policy-Planning in the Library Field" by Alex Eisenberg (Denmark), which discusses the adjustment to new information technology required of the library profession, the principle of free services for all users regardless of type of information medium, and the role of libraries in the national and international information society; (2) "Multitype Library Cooperation in Illinois, USA," a description by Eva R. Brown (United States) of the development and services of the Illinois Library and Information Network (ILLINET); (3) "Library Services to Ethno-Cultural Minorities: Philosophical and Social Basis and Professional Implications," a discussion by Leonard Wertheimer (Canada) of heterogeneous societies and appropriate library services for immigrants and migrant workers; (4) "Networks: A General Principle of Library Development" by Gotthard Ruckl (German Democratic Republic), which lists fundamental aspects of public library networks in East Germany; and (5) reports of the IFLA Working Group on the Impact of Information Technology Upon Libraries Serving the General Public and the IFLA Working Group on Library Service to Ethnic and Linguistic Minorities. (ESR)

Papers on school and children's libraries which were presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Learning to Learn in the Street," a description by B. Lang (France) of "street libraries" and other institutions designed to introduce economically disadvantaged children to books and other sources of knowledge; (2) a report on recent activities of IFLA's Children's Libraries Section; (3) "Library Services for the Disadvantaged Children in the United States of America," an overview of these services by Nita Vegamora Norman (United States) based on a 1982 survey of 652 randomly selected public libraries and information published in library literature from 1975 on; (4) "The Centralized Automation of National Centres to Networking in School Libraries," a discussion by D. Reumer (Netherlands) of the benefits and services of national institutions which provide central services to school libraries such as publication acquisition, storage, retrieval, processing, and loan; (5) "Orientation and Extension of a Programme of Mini-Libraries in Venezuela," a description by Bruno Renaud (Venezuela) of Venezuelan cultural aims and the development of the fledgling mini-library program which provides library services for Venezuelan children and adults; and (6) "School Libraries and Networking in North America: Principles and Problems of Participation," an overview by Donald C. Adcock (United States) of factors which inhibit school participation in networks. (ESR)

The rhetoric surrounding career education programs was examined by exploring two questions. The first question was which employment sectors anticipate significant job growth and what skill levels and academic competencies were required to work within those sectors. The second question was whether increasing the level of student knowledge and skill made a difference in addressing the problems identified as the motivation for various skill initiatives in career education programs. The analysis focused on labor patterns in British Columbia. The analysis established that little evidence exists to support the widespread assumption of a growing skills gap separating the academic abilities of students leaving secondary school and the actual competencies required for current and projected employment opportunities. Rather, the major job growth areas in Canada and other industrialized countries appeared to be in low-salaried, low-skill service occupations in the hospitality, food service, and retail sectors. The assumption of many policymakers that a highly skilled labor market protects national competitiveness and that investment in education and training helps form the human capital that is vital to ensuring economic growth and individual advancement and reducing inequality were also concluded to be flawed. Career education was called a reflection of neoliberal ideology. (Contains 29 references.) (MN)

This paper contributes to the debate over how the federal government can best help state and local authorities improve student achievement by providing examples from other countries of innovations in the role of the national government. The authors believe that the degree to which foreign policy structures parallel those of the United States are significant in such a comparison: Canada, Australia, and Germany also have federal systems of government where authority over most matters of education resides ultimately in state and local rather than the national government. Although such a system has historically constrained the ability of the federal government to influence student achievement, these governments are exploring new ways to improve student outcomes. The central recommendation of this paper is that the federal government, in addition to fostering a culture of accountability, must also help create an environment that enables success. Drawing on the experience of other federal governments, the authors suggest: (1) Expanding access to high-quality early childhood education, perhaps through federally supported vouchers making children ready for schooling; (2) Creating a common system for tracking students (of any age) who transfer between states; and (3) Making it easier for districts to find the teachers and principals they need through a national job databank and pension portability. Each federal government discussed in this paper has an established system of gathering and collecting education statistics, monitoring state performance, and developing standards for accountability, capacities that were built during the most recent wave of education reforms. Ultimate success, the authors conclude, depends on a second wave of reform that will increase the federal government's role not just in setting standards, but in helping states achieve them. (Contains 2 boxes and 1 figure.)

It has been suggested that the learning of a second language is not only a practical matter, as is commonly emphasized in discussion about language teaching, but is equally an experience of cultural initiation, particularly through the appreciation of literary texts in that language. The first part of this paper reviews educators' ideas about literature as cultural opportunity and the sociocultural competencies developed through the study of literature, looking at a number of related issues, including the general context of western culture, concepts of culture and subculture, the nature of literature, motivations in learning and teaching second languages, American attitudes, Quebec attitudes, and the sociocultural components of second language literature teaching methods. The second part of the paper focuses on analysis of two contemporary literary excerpts (one French, one Canadian) on the same theme that illustrate the value of literary texts in teaching sociocultural competence. The two texts are appended. (Contains 52 references.) (MSE)

This paper discusses the increasingly corporatist mentality within higher education, focusing on the role of the government within Canada, and elsewhere, to reshape higher education into narrow occupational training. It notes that while governments in Canada and the United States have reduced public funding for higher education, they have pursued agendas of increasing accountability through quantifiable outcomes and the forced narrowing of education to production of the workforce. The paper cites numerous critics of the corporatist-conservative agenda who discuss the growing role of government and business in shaping and spreading this agenda. It examines recent efforts by local and provincial governments in Canada to reshape higher education ministries to focus on worker training, to the neglect or outright abandonment of the humanist emphasis of higher education. The paper concludes that the potentials of these trends and corporatist controls include the loss, for future generations, of the critical sensibilities necessary to evaluate and reorder the state/corporate agenda. (Contains 19 references.) (MDM)

This paper advocates the community college bachelor's degree (BA). The author presents the Canadian system as a possible model for the emerging United States trend toward community college BA programs. He argues that the U.S. binary educational system is vertical, separating institutions according to levels of learning, while the European and Canadian systems are horizontal, separating technical from academic institutions. The move toward a community college BA can be seen as a move away from a binary system. Most of the BA programs in Canadian two-year schools have been technical in nature, while those offered in the United States have been academic. There is fear that the new degree offering would divert U.S. community colleges from their mission of access to and equity in education, especially if the transfer function is eliminated. Yet the author suggests that the mission of the community college is always changing, and will continue to do so in its attempt to offer what learners need. He argues that in an era when nontraditional degrees and distance learning are commonplace, it makes no sense to deny community colleges the right to offer baccalaureate programs. (NB)

Pedagogy embodies the beliefs one holds about students, about the various attributes of media technologies, and about the essential qualities of the content at hand. Teachers make decisions based on the interactions of these beliefs. Therefore, it is imperative to begin the process of designing and contemplating instruction with a consideration of the beliefs one holds concerning the components of this instruction. This paper presents observations about the pedagogical implications for teaching and learning gathered from the authors' experiences with the development of two types of distributed learning systems--the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) and CaseNET. NCIH is a video-based information delivery system developed by a consortium of state agencies and private industry; a lack of consideration of pedagogical issues has hindered utilization of the system for educational purposes. CaseNET is a set of World Wide Web-based courses jointly organized and offered by institutions of higher education and district professional development teams from the United States, Canada, and Norway. In contrast to NCIH, the developers of CaseNET have gone to great lengths to construct a distributed learning environment that allows for support and encourages cooperation, communication, case-writing, and reflective practice. Contains 12 references. (Author/DLS)