Paul, Idaho (KMVT-TV) Paul Elementary School has been chosen as the first iSchool in the state of Idaho.

That means almost 500 students and their teachers will be guinea pigs to test out technology in their classrooms. The school is no stranger to computers in the classroom. Beginning this fall, the teachers and students are part of a pilot program to bring Apple technology to their learning process.

Colleen Johnson, Principal of Paul Elementary School, says, "We have partnered with a company out of Park City, Utah, iSchool Campus. Their philosophy is to look for ways to motivate students to take ownership of their learning."

That means iSchool Campus will provide iPads for every teacher and student, and a MacBook for each of the teachers. Johnson says there will be big screen televisions in the classrooms, along with surround sound and microphones to help the teachers deliver their lessons. iSchool Campus will also provide the infrastructure, which will likely include a wireless network, for the program.

Johnson says, "To motivate students to learn, to highly engage them in learning increases dramatically when each child has a device. So rather than have one student raise their hand and answer a question, everybody can use their technology to participate."

Teachers will begin learning how to use the system on October 10th. Johnson says state legislators want to find money to pay for technology in Idaho schools through the Smart School Initiative. She says other schools are welcome to come visit to find out what works here at Paul Elementary School.

Johnson says, "Their goal is to be able to set up the means to provide technology such as this for all schools. We'll see at the end of this year how that initiative goes, and what ongoing funding will look like."

The parent meeting to explain the new program will be next Wednesday, September 19th, at Minico High School. The meeting will be in English at 7:00 p.m., and in Spanish at eight o'clock.

Sept. 11, 2012.