A dad came up with the bright idea of getting two classes in two different language regions to take part in an exchange programme via mobile phone. The idea was that a contact of this type would be possible across linguistic boundaries as a complement to classroom teaching without the need for major preparatory work or expense. The idea is now at the implementation stage: in partnership with the Berne Cantonal Department of Education, Swisscom is offering language exchanges via mobile phone for the whole of Switzerland.
The mobile phone is an everyday communication tool for young people. The exchange programme allows schools to take part in convenient language exchanges via mobile phone without the need to travel anywhere.
What is Swisscom offering schools?
Interested schools can sign up with their teachers on the Internet at www.swisscom.com/echanges. If the dates and details of two registered classes match, we will send them ten mobile phones each, which they can use free of charge for a week. The call charges will also be covered by Swisscom.
A document with suggested activities and other information is designed to get the first conversations going between the partner classes. Whether the programme remains solely based on telephone calls is up to the partner classes and teachers to decide. The pilot project in Berne demonstrated that taking part in an exchange programme via mobile phone made the partner classes want to get to know each other better.
Echanges with mobile phones
| How the programme works (PDF, 55 KB) |
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| Echanges exchange platform (Popup) |
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| Practice sheets and notes for teachers (PDF, 13,6 KB) |
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| User guide for the deployed mobile phone (PDF, 14,2 KB) |
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