Case study on the FóN Project in Rathoath College, Co Meath.

The following case study reveals the use of mobile phone technologies to enhance the learning, teaching and assessment of the Irish language at Junior Cycle level in Ratoath College, Co. Meath. This case study presents the backgound to the project, project description, aims, participants, impact on learning and technologies used.

Background
Rathoath College is one of six schools across Northern Ireland and the Republic involved in the project. The FóN Project (Foghlaim Ón Nuatheicneolaíocht) or Learning through New Technologies) began in 2007 as a joint venture between the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Foras na Gaeilge and the National Centre for Technology in Education. Rathoath college has been involved in the project since its inception.

Description
Using a mobile phone students in Rathoath College accessed a voice-response system and responded to questions covering many topics within the Junior Cycle curriculum. They also dialled into the system in order to conduct a  "voice-chat" with another student in their class, school or in another school. Laptops were then used by their teachers to download student responses and "voice-chats" in order to provide feedback based on the Junior Certificate marking scheme. Students were also sent vocabulary words and phrases through daily SMS in additiona to participating in supervised web-based conversations.

Participants
Approximately sixty first and second year students and four teachers participated in the project. Students were of mixed ability but were familiar with being taught the Irish curriculum through the medium of Irish. All teachers had previous experience of using ICT in the curriculum.

Aims
The aims identified were to investigate the use of ICT to:

• Promote student oracy in Irish
• Increase student motivation
• Increase student use of reading, writing, speaking and listening in Irish
• Help students progress their Irish competency
• Promote the use of Irish for communicating
• Assist teachers in assessing students
• Support students in self assessment

  
Technology
Phones - Each student was given a very basic mobile phone which was restricted in such a way that it could only make calls to the voice system. Phones could also only receive text messages from that system.

Internet - Laptops/pcs and the Internet were used by teachers to listen to student reponses, provide feedback, send text messages and conduct voice chats with students in other classes/schools.

Voice Response System - A voice response system was developed specifically for the project. This application accommodated pre-recorded questions produced by celebrities and teachers. It also facilitated the upload of student answers via a student and teacher interface. This was then used to listen to student responses and receive feedback from teachers.

Third party services were used such as a voice and web hosting service and a SMS supply service .


The Learning Impact
Both students and teachers in Rathoath College perceived that the use of ICT, particularly mobile phones impacted their learning, teaching and assessment of oral Irish in a very posititve way. They attributed this positive impact to the following reasons:

• Students were motivated by the technologies involved
• More opportunities were provided for students to practise their Irish and converse with others on the project
• There was a shift in learning from teacher-led learning to student directed learning and this empowered students
• The ability to self assess allowed students to compare their levels of fluency with other

Curriculum Integration
The system hosted almost 200 pre-recorded questions based on the higher, ordinary and foundation level Irish curriculum at Junior Cycle. From Jan to May 2009 students rang the system during class, school and home time. During class it was integrated at the end of a lesson on a specific topic, for example, Mé Féin (Myself). Usually this was preceded by a teacher-led PowerPoint presentation using a data projector. During school and home time students rang the system as often as they liked and chose their own topics and duration.

Pupils' Comments
"The phone is a brilliant way of learning. It is definitely a more interesting way to learn"

"At the christmas exams, last year, before I started the project I got 64% but because of the FÓN project, I got 86% in my summer exams."

" I liked that we got to practise our aural and oral Irish as well as our written. It was also more fun that classwork. I really enjoyed it."

"I liked the whole ideas of using the mobile phone as it is something that young people can relate to and enjoy. Alos it is easy to use. I did not dislike anything at all about the project"

"I feel more comfortable now speaking irish whereas I used to stress about tit and I worried if I didn't get a world right."

"I am now more fluent and can cope with accents better."

"Being able to talk to someone in Irish has improved my confidence and speaking skills."

"I loved being able to learn Irish wherever and whenever I wanted to"

"I like being able to listen back to my answers"

Teachers' Comments
"With the introduction of the oral Irish exam at Junior cycel level this project is invaluable.".

"There's been a huge improvement in all skills associated with learning Irish amongst our students."

"I found that our top students polished off their Irish, our middle of the road students improved but our less academic improved most noticeably."

"Students phoned the system after school and early in the morning. They even used their own phones after the project ended. This was a telling sign that the project genuinely engaged them."

Achievements
In Sept 2009 the Fón project won a European Award for Languages.The prestigious award, which is coordinated by the European Commission and organised in Ireland by Léargas is designed to recognise creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching, motivate students, and make the best of available resources.

The project was also featured in the RTÉ news on Wednesday 16th November.

Conclusion
Both students and teachers in the school felt the project had a hugely positive impact on learning and this was evidenced by significant improvements in the overall use of written, oral and aural Irish. All students also showed an eagerness to continue their involvement which may be facilitated via a third phase of the project. Discussions regarding this phase are ongoing at the moment.

Find out more about the overall project from the project website.