"In 2002, Maine became the first state to implement a statewide laptop program to some grade levels. Then-Governor Angus King saw the program as a way to put the internet at the fingertips of more children, who would be able to immerse themselves in information. By that fall, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative had distributed 17,000 Apple laptops to seventh graders across 243 middle schools. By 2016, those numbers had multiplied to 66,000 laptops and tablets distributed to Maine students."
"But more than a quarter century and numerous evolving models of technology later, psychologists and learning experts see a different outcome than the one King intended. Rather than empowering the generation with access to more knowledge, the technology had the opposite effect. Earlier this year, in written testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said that Gen Z is less cognitively capable than previous generations."
Statewide laptop programs began in Maine in 2002, distributing 17,000 Apple laptops to seventh graders across 243 middle schools that fall and expanding to 66,000 laptops and tablets by 2016. Comparable efforts spread nationwide, and the U.S. spent more than $30 billion on school laptops and tablets in 2024. Despite broader access to digital devices, standardized-test scores and measures of cognitive capability have declined; Gen Z has scored lower than the previous generation on some assessments. Program for International Student Assessment data indicate dipping scores and a strong correlation between greater in-school computer time and poorer results. Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath attributed these trends to unfettered technology access that atrophied, rather than bolstered, learning capabilities.
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