Orange County, Florida passed out MacBook Air laptops to as many as 2,500 students at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. They all came with black neoprene laptop cases. When the students received the in the library one happy morning, it sounds as though Santa had come early and at school.
One student was so excited that she exclaimed:
We won’t need to carry around big, old heavy backpacks. This is our backpack right here.
Some students received the MacBook Air laptop, while others received iPads. It’s a test right now. The students are taking them home and can use them the entire year. The school wants to see how much it will help students with their learning because they start offering it to everyone.
Before students receive the devices, the curriculum is loaded onto it. For example, all of the students’ textbooks are on it, so they can read assignments right off the screen.
Since textbooks will be loaded on the laptops and iPads, there won’t be any need to order them. The school is hoping the savings will be enough to justify the money they have spent on the devices. Just for the testing phase, the school has spent $13.8 million on the MacBook Air and laptops, upgrades, training and insurance.
If this testing phase goes well, the school will need enough money for 177 other schools in Florida. That’s going to cost a significant amount of money. School Board member for Ocoee acknowledges this isn’t a local job, providing devices to all students is a state funding job.
The other option is to have students bring in their own devices, for those that already have them. The director of instructional technology of Seminole schools says that is an option until schools can buy them for students.
At other schools, students have been receiving iPads, MacBooks, and MacBook Airs for well over a year, and they are finding them to be quite useful. The Idyllwide Elementary school has provided 4th and 5th graders iPads.
It’s obvious the use of technology devices, in particular Apple products, is going to be increasing over the next few years. With so many students with iPads, MacBook and MacBook Air, they will need repair services. Since we repair MacBook Air and other Apple products, we are teaming up with schools to provide fast, affordable services.
If you are school board member or director of instructional technology, give us a call to talk about the MacBook Air repairs we provide schools and students. We offer free diagnostics and quick service, so students can get back to learning with their technology devices as soon as possible.