In 2002, in the first statewide initiative of its sort, the state of Maine provided laptops to 33,000 middle school students and 3,000 teachers. The contract was extended in 2006 and expanded in 2009 to include some high schools. All seventh graders, all eighth graders, and students at 55 percent of Maine's high schools are currently issued laptops.

"It's just a part of how we do business now, and in some ways we're starting to take it for granted," explains Michael Muir, who helped design the leadership development program for the initiative that brought one-to-one computing to Maine. "It's very exciting because it's now a part of the culture of teaching middle school in Maine ... that all the kids have laptops and you teach with technology, and it's exciting because it's no longer the new thing."

While at least 33 states had experimented with one-to-one computing projects by 2007, none have reached the scope of Maine's project. In an article posted at the Mashable web site, Sarah Kessler summarizes six lessons learned from Maine's ambitious initiative:

1. Treat Technology as a Tool, Not a Curriculum Area
As Bette Manchester, who directed the program for its first seven years explains, it makes sense to select "resources based on what you decided you were teaching the students and work backwards, instead of buying a bunch of math software and having no clue what you are going to do with it."

2. Think Differently About Teaching
The new tools have the capability to diversify teaching methods, but only if teachers actually embrace the changes.

3. Decide to Do It, Not Pilot It
Although Maine did phase in the program gradually, beginning with nine exploratory schools, there was never a question of whether the program was going to continue from there.

4. Concentrate on Current Curriculum Initiatives at First
Especially for reluctant teachers, it helps to start with goals and projects that they are already focusing on and explore how the one-to-one technology can help them to it better.

5. Support Teachers as Much as Possible
"There was resistance, and it came from fear," Manchester says. Focusing on professional development for teachers and administrators has been crucial to the success of the program.

6. Make Technology Part of Teachers' Everyday Language, Too
In schools where principals modeled the use of technology and used it for communication on a daily basis, it became a part of the school culture and led to overall success.

Source: School Tech: 6 Important Lessons From Maine's Student Laptop Program, Mashable