A study by the US Department of Education has revealed that 30 million adults in the U.S. are functionally illiterate and another department of education report has rated the United States at 35 out of 57 countries for mathematics literacy among 15-year-olds.

But things are good for the country when it comes to higher education. This finding was disclosed by a new study by Times Higher Education (THE), a London magazine that tracks the higher education market.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

THE’s top-ranked school is Harvard University, which is the oldest U.S. institution of higher learning, having been established in 1636 (Harvard ranked No. 8 in Forbes’ own annual ranking of colleges). Harvard finished first on THE’s teaching component and also scored highly on the impact of its research, which is calculated by looking at the papers produced at each institution and counting the number of citations they get.

THE revamped its methodology this year, with reduced weightings for the subjective results of a reputation survey, and more than doubled the number of metrics in the ranking, from 6 to 13. THE says its goal is to measure the three main missions of a university: teaching, research and knowledge transfer.

The ranking clearly favors big research institutions. “Research institutions are the key to the knowledge economy,” Baty says. Thus, for example, six of the eight schools in the Ivy League rank in the top 20 overall, but Brown and Dartmouth, smaller Ivies with fewer postgrad programs, lag well behind, at 55 and 99, respectively. Brown fared poorly when it came to research citations. Dartmouth got dinged for its lack of diversity among students and faculty and low scores for research reputation.

Schools in the United States dominate annual World University Rankings for 2010-11 by holding 72 places among the world’s top 200, including all the top five.

The idea of using mobile phones as a teaching aid is presently under evaluation by a pilot study at the Howick College.

The “mLearning” pilot at Howick College that will be all about students making use of free software for converting computer files into cell phone study notes has already attracted attention worldwide.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Students can solve a question using PowerPoint, or a video assignment to film and edit through Microsoft’s MovieMaker.

The result is condensed into a format that can be transferred on to any cell phone with a media player.

“The kids love it because they have it in their pocket – it’s a psychological thing as well as a study thing because they know that help is, literally, a click away,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Howick College teacher Nathan Kerr, as saying.

Kerr’s innovative method allows students to search Google for a free video converter or convert PowerPoint presentations via WonderShare freeware to get content on their phones.

“We’re a lot more innovative and part of the reason is many teachers in New Zealand are given a free hand, with guidelines, while overseas your professional development as a teacher has been worked out by experts – it’s top down,” added Kerr.

It was remarked by Waikato University education lecturer Noeline Wright that this idea bent on education may turn to be a good idea as children are already very comfortable using these tools.