FÓN, Phase 2

Sections on this page:

Project participants
Celebrities lend their voices to FÓN, Phase 2
What did we find out in FÓN, Phase 2?
FÓN, Phase 2 - an award winning success
FÓN, Phase 2 - documentation and resources

Project participants

In 2008/9, we worked with 420 second year or year ten students and their 14 teachers in 6 schools across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The project was a joint venture between NCCA, Foras na Gaeilge and the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE).

Photo of FÓN project students

The project was overseen by an Advisory Committee, made up of individuals representing the following organisations/school:

Celebrities lend their voices to FÓN, Phase 2

We also worked with some celebrities to record the instructions on the mobile phone and sample questions which teachers could use on the FÓN system to create custom sessions for their own class. Teachers could also create their own content by uploading their own questions or prompts and recording their own voices.

The celebrities we contacted gave up their time freely to come to the studio and allow themselves be recorded for the project. We’d like to thank them for working with us and helping to make the project more fun and exciting for everyone involved – the students, teachers and project team.

So who were the famous faces and voices behind the FÓN system?

Celebrities involved in FÓN

What did we find out in FÓN, Phase 2?

For FÓN, Phase 2, the use of mobile phones was extended to allow student to student conversations, which were also recorded for later teacher access.

Student competence in Irish improved, students were more motivated to practise and learn Irish, and they had opportunities for more autonomous learning. The use of mobile phones also brought Irish out of the classroom for students, so that the language became more than a school subject, a living language. The opportunity to chat with other students participating in the project, from other schools and regions, facilitated meaningful communication for students. Students also indicated that the FÓN system allowed them to assess their own level of Irish, over time and in comparison to other students' levels.

Teachers also reported improvements in student competence, motivation and autonomy. They too indicated that the FÓN system had enabled Irish to be brought out of the classroom and into the community. The students' recordings held in the FÓN system allowed teachers to monitor student progress, pick out any recurring errors across student recordings and provided options for summative school assessment.