Students at Riddle (Michigan) Middle Magnet School began receiving free iBooks computers this week through a state grant dedicated to bringing more technology into classrooms, according to a Lansing (Michigan) State Journal article.
The school’s 247 students are receiving the Apple laptops due to an US$800,000 Learning Without Limits grant. The Michigan legislature set aside $3.5 million for the program last spring, and the money is matched with $6 million in federal grants from the Department of Education.
The Lansing School District’s grant is in addition to a previous round of Learning Without Limits grants issued to 13 districts last November and total over $525,000, according to the Lansing State Journal. The grants are awarded through a competitive application process in which school districts had to demonstrate how wireless technologies could improve student education.
The Riddle students can take the iBooks (all of which have AirPort cards) home, but are responsible for returning them to school the following day, the article reported. In addition to the laptops, the middle magnet school is getting projectors, digital video cameras, and keyboards through the Learning Without Limits project.