This article describes the development and implementation of three applications of portable microcomputers (Projects STEEL, MICROS, and UPWARD) to collect, store, transmit, and analyze teacher and student observational data. It identifies the goals of each project and describes development of the observation systems and corresponding computer software. The article also discusses obstacles associated with using portable microcomputers to collect data and describes how, through a series of refinements and with the advent of a second generation of laptop computers, many of these obstacles have been eliminated, now enabling researchers and teachers to more extensively use portable microcomputers to conduct observation studies.
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