We've got a brand new exercise player and we'd like to show it off to you J

We will be holding an hour long clinic on March 24^th at 10am UK time and 4.30pm UK time. We will show you what's changed

about the player and what's been added to make it even better. We will also include a lesson idea for you to take away with you.

If you would like to join one of these sessions just send an email to me s.milligan@macmillan.com with your name, organisation and

the time you'd like to attend.

What are MEC clinics?

MEC clinics are short sessions (an hour) involving groups of no more than 25. They are on a first-come, first-served basis to any MEC teachers or administrators.

There is no cost involved

We will set up and host the sessions. Those attending simply need a computer with internet access, sound and ideally a microphone. 

MEC Managing Editor Jeremy Smith writes:

Recession hampers education advances

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the problems the United Nations has supporting children's education because of the global financial crisis.

You can find this story in the News Items section on your Work Area screen.

One challenge faced by many teachers is to find a simple way to distribute, receive and exchange documents with students.  Email is too limiting when it comes to managing a large number of documents , and the file size restrictions make sending large documents difficult, if not possible.

An alternative is to make use of an online file storage and collaboration service. Many such services exist; however, from my experience, the best is drop.io. 

Think of a ''drop'' as a place where you drop off things for others to pick up. It is perfect for storing course materials for students, and for any type of group project where students need to collaborate.

On drop.io you can store up to 100 MB for free (more than enough for most uses) without creating an account. Check out the great video on the home page:

Here’s how it works:

1.    Go to http://drop.io: 

2.    Each time you go to the site, a random url address is generated automatically. In the example above it's: http://drop.io/thl6r6i. You can change the end to something easier to remember, such as http://drop.io/my_english_class.

3.    Click on ''Select Files'' to upload files to your drop.

4.    You can configure your drop.io space by clicking on ''Additional options'' just below ''Select Files.''

·         Set a ''Guest Password'' to limit access to your drop

·         Choose when you want the drop to expire, i.e. when your drop and the documents, photos, etc. you added to it, will be deleted.

·         Decide whether ''guests'' (your students, colleagues, . . .) can add, delete, download or comment on files.

5.    When you’re finished, click on ''Create a Drop.'' Your drop will be created. On the new screen you have an option to set an administrator password so that you can change the drop’s settings or receive an email in case you forget your drop address or password.  This is optional, but it’s a good idea.

6.     Communicate your drop url and password (if you created one) to your students and/or colleagues.

7.    When others go to your drop, they simply have to hover their mouse over a file they would like to download to see a menu appear.

That covers the basics. You can actually do a lot more with drop.io, but the best way to discover the other functions is to go the site and play around with it. I suggest you start by creating a sample drop to discover all the possibilities.

Hope you find that useful!

This is what the University of Lincoln is going to do. It has just become the first UK university to get its own MEC platform. As well as using it with current students, Lincoln will also be using it to test, monitor and build up students' language levels before they even arrive at university.

For Lincoln, this has a number of big advantages. Building up their students' language levels in this way will give students longer to reach the level they want to attain and help them once they arrive.

Settling in will be made easier with access to all the study skills and practical resources from the 'University Culture' section of the English for Academic Purposes content.

It's a great way of building links with students before they even arrive and getting students on board to study at the university.

Mark Forster, senior lecturer at the University's Lincoln Languages Centre, commented on the potential to ''keep in touch with students, monitor their progress and devise a curriculum specifically for them. It means the Lincoln student experience will begin before students have even left their home town.''

Read Lincoln's press release about their use of MEC >

Lure of an unfinished metropolis

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the growing number of artists moving to Germany's capital, Berlin, because of low living costs and the tolerance of the city.

You can find this story in the News Items section on your Work Area screen.