U.S. schools start embracing technological aptitude exams.

　　Today, in a matter of minutes, students can identify these and thousands of other potential resources solely on the Internet - and as any teacher will attest, they are not always adept at sorting the wheat from the chaff.

　　Now the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, the Graduate Record Examination and other university entrance tests in the United States, has developed a test that it says can assess students' ability to critically evaluate the vast amount of material available to them.

　　The Information and Communications Technology literacy assessment, which will be introduced at about two dozen U.S. colleges and universities this month, is intended to measure students' ability to manage exercises like sorting e-mail messages or manipulating tables and charts, and to assess how well they organize and interpret information from many sources and in myriad forms. About 10,000 undergraduates at schools like the University of California-Los Angeles, and Bronx Community College in New York are expected to take the test during the first offering period, which ends on March 31.

　　Still, just what is meant by "information" or even "technological literacy" remains a hotly debated topic in academic circles, and there is no widespread agreement on whether such skills can be taught, much less measured in a test. What is more certain, however, is that a lucrative market is emerging for testing companies that are willing to fill the perceived need.