Comparative research was conducted using gifted and average upper elementary and junior high school students to determine the effectiveness of utilizing microcomputers for the development of computer literacy and the implementation of curriculum courseware. Eighty students were selected as the treatment group and received instruction in the understanding and application of microcomputers; 42 students served as the control group and received no direct instruction in the use of microcomputers. A non-equivalent control group pretest/posttest design was used, and analysis of variance was undertaken to interpret the differences in standardized test results between the two groups. Qualitative analysis involved use of questionnaires, focused interviews, and data gathered by external project evaluators. Results indicate: (1) the treatment group (gifted and regular project students) showed more instances of creative thinking on all sub-tests of the Test of Divergent Thinking (TDT) and scored higher on the reading comprehension sub-test of the Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) than the control group; (2) the computer literacy questionnaire showed major trends toward enhanced literacy for both groups; (3) gifted students in the treatment group learned a greater number of mathematics concepts and expressed a greater degree of satisfaction with programming and graphics activities than did regular students; and (4) teacher inservice programs were judged to be relatively successful. A list of references is provided and copies of questionnaires used; additional information about the study and descriptive statistics are appended. (JB)