Mother of all MacBook orders: Maine to buy 64,000
Here’s a state that gets recession economics — train and innovative, and you’ll be ready for anything when the light at the end of the tunnel finally appears. Moreover, this is going to be a boon for third-party suppliers of all things Mac as the state gears up to put the portables into student and teacher hands come fall.
DailyTech reports that the State of Maine has expanded their Maine Technology Learning Initiative (MTLI) laptop program to include almost every high school student, which will mean about 64,000 more MacBooks.
“We have seen incredible success with our middle schools showing increased student engagement and achievement with MTLI in place and we want to bring this same opportunity to our high schools,” Maine Education Commissioner Sue Gendron said in a statement issued by the state. “This is not just about technology — it’s about using the technology to support education.”
Stimulus dollars in action
Further, Maine’s Department of Education may need to order an additional 7,000 MacBooks on top of the 64,000 already planned. Currently, around half of the public high schools in Maine are taking part in the program, with some school districts requesting waivers to use stimulus funds to pay for the program, which could see participation increase.
Any Maine students or teachers ’round here? I’m curious to know if what third-party software and hardware is part of the MTLI? Share a story, anecdote and link below…
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July 3rd, 2009
“Here’s a state that gets recession economics — train and innovative, and you’ll be ready for anything when the light at the end of the tunnel finally appears. Moreover, this is going to be a boon for third-party suppliers of all things Mac as the state gears up to put the portables into student and teacher hands come fall.”
LOL. If you want to see what’s wrong with the education system, why we end up with huge revenue shortages to cover liabilities, keep reading this over and over until it starts to make some semblance of sense.
Buying Macbooks to run Windows, if thats what they are doing is stupid. Unless they have OSX native software they need to use, I’d be asking what they were thinking.
I’m no big fan of Microsoft, but if I’m going to stick a laptop purchased with public money into the hands of a general student, it should be running something they are most likely going to see in the workplace.
Graphics Arts- No Problem
October 20th, 2009
Yeah, let’s not make a mistake and change anything for the better. Do you have any idea how much easier and cheaper it is to support a Mac? Sounds like money well spent to me.