Iowa schools buy MacBooks

The Van Meter School District has bought all of its students new 15 inch MacBooks in an attempt to rid the district of textbooks and adopt a new digital education system, according to an ABC news clip. The school district is part of a growing trend in central Iowa that provides computers to all students in grades seven through twelve. The Van Meter School District was able to do this by utilizing the city's "one cent sales tax." Van Meter Superintendent, John Carver, said the school district plans to eliminate the necessity for textbooks within the next four years, switching the curriculum to and entirely online format.

"I think it's really cool because we won't have as much paperwork to do -- So it's a little greener that way -- and it's helping us out with technology and its helps us to learn computers," said Karlee Golightly, a local student, "they're very nice computers."

Students are allowed to use the computers both at school and at home, but must pay a fee if the computers are damaged. The school district has blocked various websites that it believes could hinder a student's learning experience and punishes students breaking such rules by enacting a "walk-of-shame" policy.

The announcement is similar to a recent deal struck between Apple and the state of Maine's Department of Education. Apple will distribute more than 64,000 MacBooks as part of the state's Maine Learning Technology Initiative.

A recent Retrevo survey suggested that students were opting to purchase netbooks instead of a Mac. This shift is believed to be because of the significant price difference between Macs and netbooks at a time when many families are fighting to cut down expenditures.

by MacNN Staff