AllThingsD » literacy

National Broadband Plan Guru Blair Levin Speaks! (Plus the Press Release and Exec Summary)

Kara Swisher — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:34:52 +0000

While trolling around Washington, D.C., this week, BoomTown dropped in on Blair Levin, executive director of the National Broadband Plan, the opus just released by the Federal Communications Commission.

Aimed primarily at boosting the proliferation of high-speed access across the United States, the plan has been shepherded by the telecommunications analyst and former FCC staffer.

We talked about the main themes of the plan, which will require action by the FCC, the White House and Congress to be fully effective.

While Levin will move on soon, now that his job is done, he had several observations about the potential bottlenecks and more.

As in: Will broadcasters resist the spectrum suggestions? Will there be money to fund a digital literacy corps? And most of all, how can the cost of broadband be lowered?

The Yale-trained lawyer would know. As chief of staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt from late 1993 to late 1997, he oversaw, according to his bio, “the implementation of the historic 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, the first spectrum auctions, the development of digital television standards, and the Commission’s Internet initiative.”

Here’s the video of my interview with Levin, as well as the press release and executive summary of the plan, below (you can find out more here on the FCC site about it):

[ See post to watch video ]

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Txting Cld Help Kids Read Reg Eng

Marisa Taylor — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:57 +0000

Will children who grow up in the age of excessive text messaging see their spelling and reading skills suffer as a result?

Not necessarily, according to a new study from the British Academy. In fact, in an examination of schoolchildren’s texting habits, the kids who used more “textisms”–abbreviations such as “plz” (please) and “l8ter” (later)–showed higher scores on some spelling, phonetics, reading comprehension and other English language competency tests.

“We have found no support in our research for the negative media and public speculation surrounding mobile phone use, text language and its effects on literacy development,” wrote study authors Beverly Plester and Clare Wood, both psychology professors at Coventry University in the United Kingdom.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Microsoft's Economic Stimulus Plan

John Paczkowski — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:40:36 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

Microsoft's Economic Stimulus Plan

John Paczkowski — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:40:36 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

"Elevate America" Program Actually Elevate Microsoft Program

John Paczkowski — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:59:55 +0000

Microsoft gave technical training to the 5,000 employees it plans to lay off over the next 18 months. Now it’s extending that benefit to the rest of the unemployed labor pool.

On Sunday, the company announced Elevate America, a three-year job-training effort aimed at giving people the technology skills they need to survive in the job market. Under the program, it will offer one million vouchers for Microsoft eLearning courses and certification exams, and expanded access to Microsoft-vetted technology literacy and skills training programs. “Millions of Americans don’t have the technology skills needed in today’s economy,” Pamela Passman, a Microsoft vice president, said in a statement. “Through Elevate America, we want to help workers get the skills they need to succeed.”

Well, the Microsoft (MSFT) skills they might need, anyway. Which is, obviously, in Microsoft’s best interests. The more Certified Technology Specialists it has in the market, the better.

"Elevate America" Program Actually Elevate Microsoft Program

John Paczkowski — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:59:55 +0000

Microsoft gave technical training to the 5,000 employees it plans to lay off over the next 18 months. Now it’s extending that benefit to the rest of the unemployed labor pool.

Well, the Microsoft (MSFT) skills they might need, anyway. Which is, obviously, in Microsoft’s best interests. The more Certified Technology Specialists it has in the market, the better.