The recommendations from the second phase of the FÓN project included the undertaking of a project to examine the potential role of the FÓN system (Learnosity Voice) in supporting assessment of spoken language in the state examinations in Ireland.
This third phase of the FÓN project took place in 2010 in the lead up to the Irish language oral exam for the state awarded Junior Certificate. The project extended over a 14 week period and involved 117 students and 5 teachers across 2 schools.
The project looked at other ways of assessing the existing 4 components of the current oral Irish exam using FÓN. Use of FÓN in a structured way over the project period allowed for examination of continuous assessment models and use of e-portfolios. Participating students were given the opportunity to be involved in selecting their best pieces of recorded spoken work and these were to be counted as evidence of learning.
All teachers said that that their students had benefited from their participation in the project. They said that there were huge improvements in class behaviour, motivation for learning Irish, submission of homework and general enthusiasm for the Irish language.
“... it’s oral based, they’re hearing questions, they become familiar with questions and they become familiar with questions and they become familiar with their own voice, they hear their mistakes.”
Teacher, NCCA FÓN Project
All of the teachers were very happy with their student’s performance in the state exam and cited FÓNs benefits as an exam preparation tool as well as the transferable benefits seen in terms of aural and written language.
“Students who did the most tests [FÓN sessions] did a lot better in their oral exam...”
Teacher, NCCA FÓN Project
Teachers praised FÓN for its unique ability to enable spoken homework. The report tells us of instances where students did not have a family member at home that that could help them practice oral Irish and in this case FÓN was of great benefit.
“...in terms of practice, it’s great, because there is no other way to give them that type of homework.”
Teacher, NCCA FÓN Project
In terms of using FÓN for continuous assessment, teachers saw the benefits in reduction of stress and anxiety.
“they nearly lost their lives around the oral exam but listen to them on the FÓN system and they’re nearly singing.”
Teacher, NCCA FÓN Project
Students were delighted with their performance in the Junior Certificate oral exam and said that FÓN was useful for practising speaking Irish and said that it helped them to perform really well. The students also expressed a preference for continuous assessment using FÓN and claimed it was a fairer way of assessing their abilities.
Students reported that using FÓN would lessen the pressure of a face to face exam, as it would be more casual and that they would be less likely to ‘go blank’.
FÓN encouraged autonomous learning by enabling independent and out of school learning with a reported 91% of students using the system at home.
Some 86% of students claimed that FÓN was useful for oral exam preparation and echoed reasons seen in previous phases of FÓN - improved competence, fluency, self assessment and ease of use. Other students reported that there was nobody in the family home with whom they could practice Irish so FÓN was a more interesting way to learn than using a book.
Students felt that benefits were seen in other areas with 80% indicating that they felt FÓN would help them prepare for the other aspects of the Junior Certificate exam.
Students valued the work that they had undertaken on FÓN, 93% felt that it would be a good idea to award exam marks for the work undertaken on the system.
The report looks at the specific experiences of certain students that participated in the project, here are a summary of some:
Student 1: Síle
Síle, a female student is quiet, lacks confident and has health problems. This student used the FÓN system on periods of absence from school and achieved a higher than expected grade in her Junior Certificate oral exam that her teacher attributed to her use of FÓN.
Student 2: Sinéad
Sineád never speaks in class and has generally quite low grades. She accessed the system 450 times and the teacher reported that the only time she was heard to speak was on FÓN. Sinéad went on to achieve a better grade in the state oral exam than her teacher had envisaged that she would.
Student 3: Micheál
Micheál, a male student is not motivated to learn Irish and is disruptive in class and his homework is rarely done well if at all. This student’s teacher noted that FÓN was the only time that she had heard this student speak and that his oral competency had improved markedly over the course of the project.
Download the entire report on FÓN Phase 3 from here.
