[MLTI-MS] Education Press Release 6/29/06

[Heather Peel]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ­ June 29, 2006
 
 
Maine and Apple Sign Contract to Continue
Maine Learning Technology Initiative
Apple to equip 32,000 students and 4,000 teachers with iBook notebook
computers, wireless networks, training, and technical support in order to
transform teaching and learning through the Maine Learning Technology
Initiative. 
Contact:  Jeff Mao, Coordinator of Educational Technology
(207) 624-6634, jeff.mao at maine.gov
 
The Maine Department of Education has signed a four-year, $41 million
contract with Apple to continue to supply the technology, training, and
support to Maine¹s groundbreaking initiative that has equipped all the
State¹s 7th and 8th grade students and teachers with one-to-one access to
wireless notebook computers and the Internet for the past 4 years.
 
The Initiative is still considered the single largest 1:1 educational
technology program in the world. Maine¹s Education Director of Special
Projects, Bette Manchester notes, ³The strength of the program is that the
focus is on education. This is an educational project, not a technology
project.² 
 
The Maine Learning Technology Initiative has become a national and
international model for 1:1 educational technology programs. Since its
inception in 2002, many other U.S. states have implemented or are about to
implement similar programs including Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, New
Hampshire, and North Dakota. In January of 2005, Nicholas Negroponte of the
MIT Media lab cited Maine¹s program in his announcement at the World
Economic Summit of the creation of One Laptop Per Child initiative that is
working to put laptops in the hands of millions of students around the
world.
 
A more detailed summary of the terms of the contract is available on the
website at http://www.maine.gov/mlti/ <http://www.maine.gov/mlti/> .
 
 


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