Basically, I agree with Dave's comments.

For information on ongoing efforts to answer his questions he should contact the US Department of Education (which some misguided folks in Congress are trying to eliminate). They have an excoiting program called Technology Innovation Grants which is supporting schools exploring these questions. He also should contact Dr. Linda Roberts at USDOE for infromation.

One of the fundamental problems with demonstrating the effectiveness of technology in education is that we don't use performance measures which can uncover good impacts of technology. The SATs, CATs, etc. which we use to test our students' performance take no note of the existence of technology in the form or content of their test items. This has been the probelm for three decades.

> Hard data is needed make prudent decisions regarding the replacement of traditional textbooks with electronic ones . Certainly, there is sufficient data to suggest this may be a viable and beneficial option. Now this hypothesis should be tested. Pilot programs could be put in place at numerous sites. The performance of students using laptops versus similar groups using traditional textbooks would be compared. Data regarding cost, maintainence and reliability could be documented. The potential benefits for our students warrents that we take this next step.