Maine iBook Program strongly supported as Effective--Scientific Evidence coming soon

Five years ago Maine's Learning Technology Initiative provided every seventh and eighth grade student in the state and their teachers with a notebook computer, an Apple iBook, wireless networking and support. $37 million in state funds were spent to lease 30,000+ iBooks for four years. Last year Maine overwhelmingly approved $41 million to extend the program for another four years with 38,000 new iBooks.

In addition, fourteen Maine school districts have extended the program to their high schools on their own funds. One school district has even extended the program to 5th through 12th grade.

Some school districts outside of Maine have experimented with notebooks for students but have since dropped the programs citing expense, repair and misuse issues along with a lack of evidence that the program was doing any good. But Maine has experienced no significant issues--only a 2 percent repair rate over four years and the special software and school protocols prevent misuse.

A study undertaken by researchers at the University of Southern Maine should provide scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of the iBooks in learning, something that standardized tests have failed to pick up. The study included 240 mathematics classes in 45 school districts should be out this summer.

In other studies, polls and surveys support increased attendance and increased interest in learning caused by the iBooks and writing scores have improved. More... [Dana Baggett]