Course Technology and Certiport Deliver Crucial Internet and Computing Standards to the Academic Community Through New Certification Program.

Business/Technology Editors and Education Writers

National Educational Computing Conference 2002

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 17, 2002

NECC 

Premier IT Publisher Collaborates with Leading Performance-Based

Certifications Provider to Offer Exams for

Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3)

Course Technology, the worldwide leader in computer education products and services and part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE TSX:TOC), announced today its partnership with Certiport, a leading provider of global, performance-based certification programs and services, to distribute Certiport's new Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) exams.

Under the terms of the agreement, Course Technology will distribute Certiport exams to students and instructors in colleges and universities and K-12 schools. In addition to using Course Technology's extensive courseware, students and instructors learning basic computer skills now have a consistent and easily accessible means to get certified and validate their level of expertise. Developed as a foundation for other computer application certifications, the IC3 program covers a wide spectrum of concepts, including basic computing, networking, and Internet knowledge and skills.

"We are pleased to partner with Course Technology to deliver this valuable solution to the academic community," said David Saedi, executive vice president for Certiport. "The combination of the IC3 global standard with Course Technology's leading courseware and training for IC3 fills a gap for promoting and validating foundational skills so necessary in today's digital economy."

Creating an industry standard for measuring basic computer literacy for academia and the workplace, IC3 exam objectives were built strategically by professional researchers, test developers, psychometricians, and more than 270 subject matter experts (SMEs) in 19 countries, all of whom contributed content and feedback and validated the certification requirements. A student with IC3 certification will not only have a comprehensive understanding of computing fundamentals, key applications, and online functionality, but also will possess the necessary foundation to excel into advanced certifications such as A+, as well as other technical and desktop application certifications.

"Our research shows the academic community faces a daunting problem: how to be assured a student has achieved computer literacy," said Cushing Anderson, program manager for IDC's Learning Services Research. "When combined with IC3 course content, this offering from Course Technology will help its customers certify their students' knowledge. This will increase the institution's confidence that students have mastered the basic skills the students' need for employment and demonstrate relevance of the course material."

In addition to distributing IC3 exams, Course Technology selected Certiport to enable qualified campuses and schools to become iQcenters, which are testing centers that administer IC3 exams. As an iQcenter, an academic institution develops and maintains high standards for exam-taking environments, workstation performance, and security, giving certification candidates instant, standardized validation of computer knowledge and skills. Colleges, universities, and K-12 schools will also be able to provide these certifications to their teachers and instructors, imparting excellent preparation and subject matter validation, before certification curriculum is taught. To date, Certiport has delivered more than 900,000 desktop application certification exams at thousands of iQcenters in 117 countries worldwide.

Course Technology will immediately begin offering IC3 exams through authorized iQcenters. For more information on Course Technology's certification offerings, please visit www.course.com/certification and for more information on how to become an iQcenter, please contact Chris Elkhill of Course Technology at 617-757-8023 or [e-mail].

About The Thomson Corporation and Course Technology

The Thomson Corporation, with 2001 revenues of $7.2 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information and technology to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate training and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (NYSE TSX: TOC).

As part of The Thomson Corporation, Course Technology (www.course.com) is the worldwide leader in computing education, offering more than 1,600 print and innovative technology-based products for business and technology training.

About Certiport

Certiport, Inc.(TM) is the leading provider of global, performance-based certification programs and services designed to enable individual success and lifetime advancement through certification. As the exclusive worldwide provider of the Microsoft(R) Office User Specialist (MOUS) program, Certiport is responsible for the development, marketing, and administration of certification programs for the Microsoft Office suite of products. Certiport is also the exclusive worldwide provider of the IC3 program. For more information about Certiport's offerings, visit http://www.certiport.com.