King Sees Maine Modeling Digital Education’s Future

URL:

http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8500&Itemid=31

Keywords:

lap top; learning technology; digital education; initiatives

Abstract:

BRUNSWICK — Angus King Jr. credits the convergence of an “authentic genius” from Blue Hill, an unexpected surplus of state revenue and the political will to affect Maine’s future for what he sees as the early success of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). “My theory was very simple: If Maine was this island of highly educated, digitally literate people, we increase our standard of living and create opportunities that would move us forward.”— ANGUS KING JR. The statewide program that now provides an Apple iBook G4 laptop computer and wireless Internet access to every seventh- and eighth-grader in Maine’s public schools was initiated under King’s watch in 2000, during his second term as Maine’s governor. Today, he says, the program is an emerging model for the future of education in a digital world.