The Maine Learning Technology Initiative was founded to support the use of technology in education in the state of Maine. The Initiative started with the vision of former Maine governor Angus King who saw that to keep this state’s economy competitive in the twenty-first century, there was a need to introduce technologies to the Middle School students so that they will become prepared for the rapidly changing world. Many other states were focusing on technologies in their state to drive economic growth.
Former Governor Angus King was convinced by Seymour Papert that there is a need for a 1:1 ratio on technology and students so that a transformation could occur in the educational system from the traditional way of learning to a more modern way that allowed students to explore technologies.
By the year 2000 when the state experienced a budget surplus, the governor announced the plans to provide personal learning devices to all middle school students along with the teachers in the state. A study was made on the plan and by early 2001, the Task Force that conducted a study made a recommendation to pursue the plan. The initial deployment was to be for students and teachers in the 7th and eighth grade. The deployment to these grade levels provided valuable insight on the effectiveness of the program and how the program could be initiated in other grade levels. In the spring of 2000, the state was given authority to start the program beginning in September of 2002. It was to become the beginning of MLTI. By December 2001, the state had chosen Apple Computers for the program after proposals from different companies were evaluated.
Angus King’s successor also supported the initiative and has endorsed the Maine Technology Learning Initiative. While the initial plan was just to distribute computers to students from the middle school, the project now extends to the state’s high schools. The impact of the initiative on student learning was examined by the University of Southern Maine. The positive results, as revealed in the study made by the University of Southern Maine, are what convinced Governor Baldacci to continue with the project. The Governor had also received positive feedback from the parents of the students. The 1:1 initiative was also analyzed after the state received federal grants to undertake a three-year, scientific research project to make quantitative and qualitative conclusions on the effectiveness of the project. The study was to evaluate the impact of the project on the student achievement as well as the teacher professional development in the area of Mathematics.
The analysis revealed the positive transformation of the Maine classrooms and how the iBook laptops from Apple allowed for curriculum customization and better interaction between the students and the educators. The students also end up taking a more active role in learning because the iBooks give them access to other information resources aside from the ones their teachers provide. The teachers also benefit from the program because the Maine Learning Technology Initiative provides better opportunities at learning more skills and knowledge that leads to professional development.
