MLTI

The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) is an initiative that gives learning technology to all of the 7th-12th graders attending public schools in Maine, Hawaii, and Vermont. Currently, it hands out a school's choice between either iPads, MacBook Airs, Hewlett-Packard ElitePads, Hewlett-Packard ProBooks, and CTL Classmate PC Netbooks to students. Before that, it gave iBooks and later MacBooks to students. When it began in Maine in 2002, it was one of the first such initiatives anywhere in the world and first in the United States to equip all students with a laptop.

In 2000, Governor Angus King proposed The Maine Learning Technology Initiative, to provide laptops for every middle school student and teacher in the state. One of his primary reasons was a $71 million budget surplus in 1999. He "immediately called for a large portion of this surprise windfall to be put into an endowment for ‘the procurement of portable, wireless computer devices for students.’" After the initial public reaction to the plan it became clear that more discussion and examination of this concept was needed and thus in the summer of 2000 the Legislature and Governor King convened a Joint Task Force on the Maine Learning Technology Endowment which had the task to look in-depth at the issues around this proposal and recommend the best course for Maine to follow. In a Wired Magazine interview, Governor King said, "'I think we're going to demonstrate the power of one-to-one computer access that's going to transform education...the economic future will belong to the technologically adept.'"

John Waters explains that the keys to the success of MTLI are the professional development accompanying the implementation of the program, the strategic vendor relationship with Apple, and quality local leadership.

In early 2001 the Task Force issued its report with the recommendation that Maine pursue a plan to deploy learning technology to all of Maine's students and teachers in 7th and 8th grade and then to look at continuing the program to other grade levels. The Task Force report also included several guiding principles which have been embedded into the work of MLTI. During that spring legislation was authorized to begin the program for the school year beginning in September, 2002.

In late September 2001, the Department of Education issued the RFP for MLTI and after scoring all of the proposals selected Apple Computer, Inc. as the award winner. In late December 2001 the Department and Apple formally began to implement the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.

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Wikipedia