San Francisco (CA) – The state of Maine has reportedly ordered more than 64,000 shiny MacBooks for high school students. An additional 7,000 laptops are expected to be purchased within the next few weeks.
The state laptop program – known as the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) – has provided Apple notebook computers to all Maine middle school students since 2002.
State officials claim that program’s expansion will help create the “largest educational technology of its kind in the world.”
“We have seen incredible success with our middle schools showing increased student engagement and achievement with MLTI in place and we want to bring this same opportunity to our high schools,” Education Commissioner Sue Gendron explained in a statement obtained by MPBN. “This is not just about technology, it’s about using the technology to support education.”
It should be noted that only half of Maine’s public high schools are participating in the laptop plan. In addition, a number of school districts have sought waivers to use stimulus funds to pay for the program, including Portland, Bangor, Augusta and School Administrative District 59 in Madison.
