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Since the early 1990s, laptop computers have repeatedly been suggested as a tool to improve instruction and student learning. Meanwhile, several evaluations have shown that laptops helped to increase the amount of independent and collaborative learning. Instruction with laptops was also found to be more student-centered in many cases. However, most of these studies are based on subjective data (interviews and questionnaires) exclusively. Observational data to confirm these findings is missing. This study examines 45 lessons (24 with and 21 without laptop use) that were videotaped over the course of two and a half years in a laptop program of a German high school. It is found that when laptops are used, the use of other instructional media, particularly notebooks and the blackboard, decreases significantly. The amount of independent work if found to increase significantly, while for other forms of instruction, such as teamwork, pair work, lectures and teacher-guided discussions, no differences can be determined. The results are discussed in relation to interview and survey data gathered in the same study. (Contains 23 references.) (Author/AEF)

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