22 Mar, 2009
Maine expanding school laptop program
Photo: torres21, Used under Creative Commons license.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on 1-to-1 laptop programs, and one thing has become clear: laptop progams only work when they’re well planned and well implemented. The State of Maine has done it right. Maine began in 2002/2003 by issuing 30,000 Apple laptops to every 7th and 8th grader in the state’s public schools. The program has been such a success that they’re expanding it to include all High School and Middle School students.
Gov. John Baldacci said in his State of the State address Tuesday night that revamping the laptop computer program would turn it “into a powerful tool for the entire family.”
“Every night when students in seventh through 12th grade bring those computers home, they’ll connect the whole family to new opportunities and new resources,” Baldacci said. The computers would come with software to connect to the state’s career centers, he added.
A 2007 study by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute at the University of Southern Maine showed increased writing scores for the 7th and 8th graders since the laptop program began.
Read the full AP Article “Main Expanding School Laptop Program with Apple” here.
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