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The objective of this paper is to review and analyze several aspects of computer mediated learning and how future communication research questions will be explored. Some of the questions addressed in the paper are: Does this format affect learning performance? Is there enough verbal interaction in a cyberspace class? How are communication researchers affected by not having a face-to-face platform? and How does computer-mediated learning become the great equalizer? The paper describes increasing media richness and social presence in computer-mediated learning. It notes that in online courses, feedback is very important for students to maintain progress, and what ties the student group together is a common goal such as finishing the course with a decent grade. As for communication research, the paper suggests that the ethnographic researcher will have to find a way to penetrate the online community and then remain as an active participant to understand and become part of the community world of his or her subjects. When this is accomplished, an effective analysis and interpretation can be completed. (Contains 30 references.) (NKA)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert