The students at Ames High School in Iowa received a pleasant surprise this school year in the form of 1,425 brand new MacBook Air notebooks, thanks to program the district calls 21st Century Learning. The buy cost a total of $1.4 million, which figures to roughly $980 per computer.
The Ames school board voted on the program back in May, and students are now getting their first hands-on time with the new Apple gear. Each student in 9th through 12th grade has the privilege of checking out a fresh new MacBook for a rather reasonable deposit of just $25. In the event of damage or loss, the student (or more likely, their family) will be charged amounts ranging from $50 up to the full cost of the hardware.
Before being given their own notebook, each student must
