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Apple Education Watch: Maine iBook Initiative
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DawnTreader
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I’ve decided to create a new thread specifically about the Maine iBook Initiative. Apple is striving to implement one-to-one (one iBook to one student) programs in schools and districts across the country.
The Maine iBook initiative has received extensive coverage in our Macs in Schools thread. Reports on the progress of the iBook program in Maine will now be referenced in this thread. The initiative in Maine may be used as a model for other schools and districts as Apple strives to replicate the program and better secure its position as the leader in the K-12 education market.
Here’s an interesting report from the Bangor Daily News .
Robert
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DawnTreader
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Here’s a worthwhile read on the Maine iBook initiative and its impact on classroom learning from the Lewiston, Maine Sun-Journal
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DawnTreader
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Here’s another look at the Maine iBook initiative from the Portsmouth Herald .
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Funding for the initiative is being threatened by a budget shortfall .
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Favorite (but less relevant than it used to be) Quote: Microsoft’s tyranny lies not in its success, but in the way it achieved and maintains that success.
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DawnTreader
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The Maine iBook program was not an easy sell to legislators and Governor King put much of his personal political prestige on the line to initiate the project and see it through the state legislature.
A small but vocal group of opponents have never liked the iBook program and talk loudly about eliminating or scaling back the program whenever discussion turns to the state’s fiscal shortfall.
Because Governor King is so closely identified with the iBook program, attacking the program has become a favorite tactic of politicos in Maine who wish to gain the governor’s attention during the current budget battles. However, since the moment the first iBooks began arriving in Maine schools, the program has picked-up additional popular support.
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DawnTreader
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Please see the TMO coverage of the visit of Steve Jobs to schools in Maine .
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More attacks on the Maine school deal, this time for a couple of yahoos in the legislature who are asking the attorney general if the state can break the contract with Apple, and get away with it.
TMO’s Story , which goes live at 7:00 AM, CDT today.
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Editor - The Mac Observer
Favorite (but less relevant than it used to be) Quote: Microsoft’s tyranny lies not in its success, but in the way it achieved and maintains that success.
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DawnTreader
- [ Ignore ]
Sabre-rattling by legislators during a budget cruch. The program is one of the governor’s highest-profile projects and some legislators will use the project and public threats to cut off funding in an effort to keep “his feet to the fire” on budget matters.
This kind of stuff has been all too common since the program was first announced
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DawnTreader
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Here’s an interesting look at the Maine iBook program and the antics of the two headline-seeking legislators from Maine Today .
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DawnTreader
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Please see our recent editorial on the continuing iBook battle in Maine. The editorial contains links to previous TMO reports on the initiative.
Robert
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DawnTreader
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Here’s a look at the discussion about Maine’s liability to Apple from a New Hampshire publication in the event a small minority of members of Maine’s state legislature try to force the Department of Education to cancel the iBook program.
In the end, the two legislators who oppose the program and started the discussion with the state attorney general’s office may have ironically done the program a favor.
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And the stupidity (as well as the good fight) continue…
http://news.mainetoday.com/indepth/laptops/020807laptop.shtml
Gov. King (of course) and the state Atty. General (thankfully) both come out against killing the deal.
Good for Gov. King! He’s already caved more than he should have (slashing it from $25 mil to $15 million); he’s putting up an excellent fight against these short-sighted, bone-headed whiners.
I ranted about this before and I’ll rant about it again: forget about whether they can *legally* get out of the deal, forget about whether they should have signed it in the first place—bottom line, they DID, and should honor their end of the bargain. That’s what signing a contract is supposed to be about, not looking for loopholes to weasel your way out of it. I can’t believe that after all this time, after the laptops have ALREADY started to arrive and be used, the training, wiring, installations, etc. are well past the initial stages, *and* all accounts state that the pilot programs are a huge success, they’re STILL trying to kill the deal.
To my knowledge, there are only two groups of people who are supposed to be able to legally get out of a signed contract: children and the mentally disabled. What does this tell you about the Maine legislature?
—BlueDjinn
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DawnTreader
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Here’s another story on Governor King’s statements regarding the state attorney general’s response to the questions about the iBook contract.
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DawnTreader
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Here’s another look at the Maine iBook issue from Hoover’s Online .
Clearly the actions of the two legislators in Maine to question the state’s obligations under the Apple contract have backfired.
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DawnTreader
- [ Ignore ]
Here’s another look at the Maine iBook issue from Hoover’s Online .
Clearly the actions of the two legislators in Maine to question the state’s obligations under the Apple contract have backfired.
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DawnTreader
- [ Ignore ]
Here’s another look at the Maine iBook issue from Hoover’s Online .
Clearly the actions of the two legislators in Maine to question the state’s obligations under the Apple contract have backfired.
