We would like to invite you to the next MEC clinic. On MEC, there are two pre-built IELTS courses and the coming clinic will be giving ideas on how to use them with your classes. In addition, we will see how you could include it as a syllabus item in your course. This will all be tied up with demo lesson ideas.

The clinic will take place on 19th February at 10am and 4pm UK time.

If you or any of your teachers would like to attend all you have to do is send me an email at j.trzmielewska@macmillan.com.

What are MEC clinic?

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

How much is it?

It is free of charge!

How can it benefit me?

MEC clinics give you an opportunity to develop your knowledge of digital resources. You will have a chance to find out more about online learning, resources and the use of technology in your day to day teaching. After the clinic, you will receive

a certificate of attendance.

How long is it?

The session is 1-1.30 hours long.

What do I need to do?

We will set up and host the sessions. Those attending simply need a computer with internet access, sound and ideally a microphone. Don't forget a cup of tea!

This month on MEC, we published five new web projects, at pre-intermediate and intermediate levels, bringing the total to 52 for both British and American English users.The coming clinic will be giving ideas on how to use it with your classes. In addition, we will see how you could include it as a syllabus item in your course. This will all be tied up with demo lesson ideas.

The clinic will take place on 27th November at 10am and 4pm UK time.

If you or any of your teachers would like to attend all you have to do is send me an email at j.trzmielewska@macmillan.com.

What are MEC clinic?

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

How much is it?

It is free of charge!

How can it benefit me?

MEC clinics give you an opportunity to develop your knowledge of digital resources. You will have a chance to find out more about online learning, resources and the use of technology in your day to day teaching. After the clinic, you will receive

a certificate of attendance.

How long is it?

The session is 1-1.30 hours long.

What do I need to do?

We will set up and host the sessions. Those attending simply need a computer with internet access, sound and ideally a microphone. Don't forget a cup of tea!

We would like to invite you to the next two MEC online clinics.

The first MEC clinic hosted by Joanna will take place on the 20^th August at 10am and 4pm UK time and it will be giving ideas on how to use Wordnik to help your students extend their vocabulary. The session will focus on:

-         Showing what Wordnik is 

-         Giving ideas on how to use Wordnik with MEC 

-      Going through two demo lessons using Wordnik

Last year (not so long ago!) we ran several Macmillan English Campus online clinics about our newest addition Interactive Worlds. You can find a link to these wonderful resources for young learners in the Work Area of your MEC site.

Below is a short presentation that introduces the main features of Interactive Worlds.

Interactive Worlds presentation.pdf (2.18 MB)

As well as downloading the presentation you can click on the links below to read our lesson ideas on how to use Interactive World videos with adult learners.

Video lesson 1

Video lesson 2

Finally don't forget extensive teacher's notes for the worlds can be found in the Teachers' support area.

On the 4th July we held our 11^th online Macmillan English Campus clinic, giving ideas for how to use MEC resources in your classroom.

You can download a PDF of the full presentation by clicking the link below.

Using MEC in class.ppt (3.71 MB)

But if you haven't got time to read all that, below are some top tips for Using MEC in class:

1.      How can you lead in to the MEC resource? What would be a good lesson warmer or introduction activity?

2.      Even though you are working online with MEC, the lesson can still involve pair-work, speaking activities, etc. In class learners want to benefit from your help. MEC can provide lesson content as a basis for teacher input in the lesson. Learners can consolidate and practice new language on MEC for homework.

3.      How can you modify the level of challenge? (Create an information gap exercise, cover bits of text or pictures using the MEC hint box or the listening window.)

4.      Will students benefit from doing the same activity at home again? What related MEC resources could you set as follow-up or homework? (Language exercises have accompanying Grammar Reference Units. News Items are great as a follow-up to a MEC Listening or Vocabulary activity.)

The clinic participants were:

Milena Montalbano - IH MERATE - LECCO

Mafy Gallinetti - IH MERATE - LECCO

Spohie Behagg - EmbassyCES, Brighton

Vivienne Antognini - Language Consultants S.r.l.

Ken Jones- Language Consultants S.r.l.

Jose Willis - IH Livorno

A big thanks to everyone who participated. Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments - especially if you have any amazing MEC lesson plans!

If you are interested in attending the next MEC clinic you can contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.earnshaw@macmillan.com

On the 29^th May we held our 10^th online Macmillan English Campus clinic. The title of the clinic was:   

 Tips and ideas on how to use MEC resources with Voki and Voicethread.

Ann Foreman

The clinic was written and presented by Ann Foreman, a teacher trainer and ICT coordinator for the British Council, Bilbao. Ann also has her own blog called Encouraging Learner Autonomy where you'll find all sorts of great ideas about how to use technology in the classroom.

Click here to see the clinic presentation on Ann's sample class blog. Scroll down the blog or choose to read about either Voki or VoiceThread by selecting a blog archive link from the list on the right.

Voki
Voki is a free website where you can create on-screen characters and create podcasts to give them a voice. Ann demonstrated how to set up a Voki account and create and edit a character. She also suggested how the site would be good to use with MEC exercises on Likes and dislikes and Gerunds and infinitives. For an example of Ann's PET level students using Voki to make oral presentations, click here or here.

VoiceThread
VoiceThread is a free website where you can create annotated slide shows with a voice over to describe the contents of your presentation. Ann demonstrated how to set up a VoiceThread account, choose photographs for a slide show from www.flickr.com (a great site for high quality photos) and create annotations and an audio description for the presentation. VoiceThread is particularly useful for preparing students for the speaking part of the Cambridge Suite of exams (KET to Proficiency) in the section where candidates are asked to describe and compare photographs. It would be a great complement to the current exam preparation resources in MEC which offer reading and writing practice for the Cambridge exams. VoiceThread lets learners choose the photos they use which means they are much more likely to be enthusiastic about what they have to say.

Tips for using online tools like Voki and VoiceThread

·         If you are working in an IT suite you can ask your learners to create Voki or VoiceThread material during the lesson. Otherwise, creating a Voki or VoiceThread presentation is a fun way for learners to do their homework. If you have an interactive whiteboard or a computer and a data projector in your classroom, you can review the presentations together in class. It's a great way to compare ideas and correct errors.

·         If you're using MEC for a distance learning course, Voki or VoiceThread presentions are a great way for students to submit oral homework to you and make a great change from telephone lessons. They provide a record of your learners' speaking skills which could also be used for assessment purposes.

·         VoiceThread is very teacher-friendly. It has privacy controls, comment moderation, and a system of identities that allows all students in a class to work within one account.

Do you have any ideas for using MEC resources with Voki or VoiceThread? Have you made a presentation with your class and would like to share your experience with us? We'd be delighted to hear from you either by email or as a comment on this posting.

Our thanks to Ann and everyone who participated in the clinic. The participants were:

·         Travis Rout - British Council, Czech Republic 

·         Astrid Krake - VHS Munich, Germany

·         James Frith - BELL Cambridge, UK

·         Roberto Murakami - Cultura Inglesa, Brazil

·         Pat Clay and team - AISLi, Italy

·         Ian Gordon - Study Group, New York

Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments. If you are interested in attending the next MEC clinic you can contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.earnshaw@macmillan.com

Join us for our next MEC clinic presented by Ann Foreman. This clinic will include tips on:

             Get a Voki now!          

Join us for our next MEC clinic presented by Ann Foreman. This clinic will include tips on:

On the 24^th April we held our 9^th online Macmillan English Campus clinic. The title of the clinic was Setting up a class blog to use with MEC resources.

Ann Foreman


The clinic was written and presented by Ann Foreman, a teacher trainer and ICT coordinator for the British Council, Bilbao. Ann also has her own blog called Encouraging Learner Autonomy where you'll find all sorts of great ideas about how to use technology in the classroom.

Click here to see the clinic presentation. To move to the next slide, left click with your mouse. To go back to a previous slide right click with your mouse and then click on rewind.

Ann demonstrated an example class blog posting related to the theme of Identity, a syllabus item from the Macmillan English Campus Inside Out Advanced course.

Tip for using a class blog

·         If you are working in an IT suite you can ask your learners to blog during the lesson. Otherwise, blogging is a fun way for learners to do their homework. You can check what they've written at home and give feedback in the next lesson or even as a comment on the blog. If you have an interactive whiteboard or a computer and a data projector in your classroom, you can review the postings together in class. It's a great way to compare ideas and correct errors.

·         If you're using MEC for a distance learning course, a class blog is a great way for students to submit written homework and keep in touch with their teacher.

·         Using topics from MEC courses is a great way to provide your learners with inspiration for their blog postings. Another useful resource might be Web Projects, as they cover a wide range of topics and levels, exposing learners to authentic language and encouraging them to study independently. Learners could complete a Web Project and then each write a posting on their findings or their opinions on the subject.

Do you have any ideas for using MEC resources with class blogs? Have you made a blog with your class and would like to share your experience with us? We'd be delighted to hear from you either by email or as a comment on this posting. Get blogging!

Our thanks to Ann and everyone who participated in the clinic. The participants were:

·         Monica Vlad - EQUALS EuroEd, Romania

·         Anna Rolinska - AKCENT International House, Prague, Czech Republic

·         Travis Rout - British Council, Czech Republic 

·         Neil McLaren - British Council, Slovakia

·         James Glanville - British Council, Slovakia

·         Suzanne Mordue - British Council, Slovakia

·         Astrid krake - VHS Munich, Germany

·         Katia Lotte - FL&C, France

·         James Frith - BELL Cambridge, UK

·         Roberto Murakami - Cultura Inglesa, Brazil

Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments. If you are interested in attending the next MEC clinic you can contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com

MEC Product Trainer, Sarah Milligan, writes:

On the 19^th and 20^th March we held our 8^th online MEC Clinic. The clinic included tips and ideas on how to successfully build a MEC course. 

I ran the clinic which was originally written by Silvia Tiberio, a freelance ELT writer. Click on the links below to see a downloadable PDF of the clinic presentation and summary:

Advanced Course Building Presentation1.ppt (595 KB)

MEC Course-building clinic - summary1.doc (58.5 KB)

Thank you very much to everyone who took part from AISLi, BELL and OPTI. Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.

If you are interested in attending the next MEC clinic please contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com

On the 26^th February we held our seventh online MEC Clinic. I took MEC users through the different searches on MEC and gave a tour of MEDO.

The clinic included a summary of the differences between each search facility and in what situations we might use them. It also included some extra information on search operators for the Word and Phrase search with examples. Finally we looked at the wide variety of resources available on Macmillan English Dictionary online.  

Click on the link below to see a downloadable PDF of the clinic presentation:

 Searching on MEC and MEDO presentation1.ppt (1.83 MB)

 The clinic participants were:

Vivienne Antognini - LAC Lombardia Language Consultants

Astrid Krake - VHS Munich

Donna Liersch - VHS Munich

Michelle Lechner - VHS Munich

Christina Kaku - IH Prague

Nataliya Yordanova - AVO-Bell Sofia

Milena Grudeva -  AVO-Bell Sofia

Thank you very much to everyone who took part. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.

If you are interested in attending the next MEC clinic please contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com

How do you use MEC? Would you like some inspirational ideas on how to build your own courses on the Campus?

MEC clinics are short sessions (maximum 90 minutes) involving small groups of no more than 10. They are on a first-come, first-served basis to any teachers who use MEC.

There is no cost involved: we will set up and host the sessions. Those attending simply need their web-linked computer and a separate phone line to dial a freephone number. 

Our next clinic will be held on Thursday 20^th March 2008, 11am GMT

Subject: Course-building on MEC - tips and ideas

If you are interested in attending this event or you require any further information, please let us know through the 'contact us' section of this site or by emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com.

Are you taking advantage of all the search facilities on MEC? Would you like to get the best out of MEDO? Why not come and join our next clinic which is all about searching on MEC. 
MEC clinics are short sessions (maximum 90 minutes) involving small groups of no more than 10. They are on a first-come, first-served basis to any teachers who use MEC.

There is no cost involved: we will set up and host the sessions. Those attending simply need their web-linked computer and a separate phone line to dial a freephone number. 

Our next clinic will be held on Tuesday 26^th February 2008, 2pm GMT

Presenter: Sarah Milligan, MEC Product Trainer

Subject: Searching on MEC - making the most of search facilities

If you are interested in attending this event or you require any further information, please let us know through the 'contact us' section of this site or by emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com.

On the 23^rd January we held our sixth online MEC Clinic. MEC Training Coordinator, Steph Earnshaw, presented some course building tips and ideas to a group of MEC users from around the world.

Click on the link below to see a downloadable PDF of the clinic presentation:

Course Building Presentation1.ppt (1.95 MB)

MEC Course-building clinic - summary.doc (61 KB)

The course building clinic was written by Silvia Tiberio, a freelance ELT writer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She builds MEC courses to accompany Macmillan titles and has written material for onestopenglish. This meant she was able to provide lots of ideas and guidance on how to improve your MEC course building technique!

Silvia Tiberio

The clinic participants were:

Paddy Greenleaf - IH VISEU, Portugal
Jo Willis - IH LIVORNO, Italy
Roswitha Kraehenbuehl - IH Hull's School Ltd, Switzerland

Richard Fleming - IH Lisbon, Portugal

Vic Richardson - Study Group - UK

Joanna Taylor - AISLi Language Point - Milan

Eric Baber - UK

Ann Foreman - UK

Thank you very much to Silvia, Steph and everyone who took part. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.

If you are interested in attending the next MEC course building clinic please contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com

On 6th November we held the fifth MEC clinic. Vilson Coimbra of CISP, São Paulo, Brazil presented his ideas for integrating Campus activities into your lesson plan.

Vilson Coimbra

Click on the links below to see a downloadable PDF of Vilson's clinic presentation:

Integrating Campus activities into your lesson plan.pdf (871.92 KB) 

Vilson has been working with Campus for over three years and was able to provide some really useful examples of how to use MEC in class. At CISP Campus is used as part of the general curriculum and also for remedial work and distance courses. They previously used Campus with data projectors for class work but they have now successfully moved on to interactive whiteboards for all their MEC classroom activities. You can find out more about Vilson and CISP by clicking here and here.

The clinic participants were:

Marc Pillich-Wright - EAQUALS, Romania

Katia Lotte - FL&C, France

Sandra Brady - FL&C, France  

Karen Thompson - FL&C, France

Astrid Krake - VHS, Germany

Donna Liersch - VHS, Germany

Thank you very much to Vilson and everyone who took part. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.

On 29th October we held the fourth MEC clinic. Simone Sucupira of CISP, Campinas, Brazil presented her ideas on using MEC for distance learning.

Simone Sucupira

Click on the links below to see Simone's ideas for using MEC for distance learning:

1. A downloadable PDF of Simone's clinic presentation: MEC for distance learning.ppt (3.87 MB)

2. Simone’s example of a study guide for low level students. This covers the Present Simple and telling the time using MEC Listening and Vocabulary Activities, plus extra MEC Grammar Reference Units and Listening Activities for further practice: STUDY GUIDE.doc (490.5 KB) 

3. Simone’s example of a discussion guide for advanced level students. This uses a MEC News Item and a MEC listening activity: CAMPUS DISCUSSION GUIDE.doc (30.5 KB)

By using online resources alongside her own worksheets Simone has created some really useful examples of distance learning lessons with MEC. You are very welcome to download these and adapt them for your own students.

The clinic participants were:

Olga Nikulina - Talisman, Russia

Natalya Sorokina - Talisman, Russia

Anna Sheshenina - Talisman, Russia

Ekaterina Savitcheva - Talisman, Russia

Thank you very much to Simone and everyone who took part. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.

Our next clinic will be held on Tuesday November 6th 2007 at 11.00 GMT.

Presenter: Vilson Coimbra, CISP, Brazil

Subject: Integrating Campus activities into your lesson plan

If you are interested in attending this event or you require any further information, please let us know through the contact us section of this site or by emailing s.earnshaw@macmillan.com.

Jo Scellier

On Wednesday 11^th July I conducted a MEC Clinic for ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) Embassy schools. Participants linked up via computer and phone and were taken through a 60 minute training session. There were about 13 MEC Champions, administrators and teachers who joined the clinic from their schools in different states such as Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.

ANZ Embassy launched MEC at the beginning of 2007 and has undertaken several training sessions for their MEC Champions and administrators. These have focused on various aspects of using MEC from general navigation of the different student, teacher and administration areas to building courses and assigning courses to classes. So, before I delivered the clinic I sent out a questionnaire to all participants to find out how they were implementing MEC, integrating it into the classroom and training teachers and students.

Melbourne

Some really valuable feedback from the questionnaire was received. Here's a summary:

• Communication between teachers and students regarding MEC is really good within the schools. However, between the schools it's a bit trickier to keep in touch and share information. So, I suggested setting up an online forum using a free site such http://www.runboard.com/ or http://makeforum.org/home.php. Alternatively, this blog could be a useful way to connect with other schools by placing comments or writing postings.

• Teachers have generally taken to MEC well with some teachers really loving it. The Embassy MEC Champions have used MEC training materials to train teachers during in-house professional development sessions and found it really useful. They've also developed some simple training materials for students. (You can find more teaching materials on the MEC support site.)
  
  
• Students at ANZ Embassy love the games and teachers have found them to be a positive way of introducing MEC. I'm not surprised as the games are not only fun and interactive but also useful English language learning tools. The other resource areas that have been popular so far are the Language Tests and Exam Preparation exercises. Teachers said they find these very useful and students are really taking to them, too!

Below are five points I asked the participants to think about. You might find them helpful for own institution or school:

1. How are your Campus champions and local administrators getting on with MEC? How could they be helped or supported further?

'The second MEC clinic was held on Thursday 28^th June. Judith Dick of OPTI, Switzerland presented her ideas for using MEC with low-level learners.

Judith Dick

Below are the three main ways in which Judith supports her low-level learners with MEC:

1. Increase students' autonomy - Judith uses Mozilla translation add-ons along with Word Reference to help increase students' independence with MEC.

2. Use vocabulary lists - Judith encourages her students to make their own translation tables of MEC vocabulary, as mentioned in her previous posting on the blog. They then transfer vocabulary to their MEC wordlist, reinforcing what they've learned.

3. Set fun homework using MEC - Judith works mainly with teenage students who are often lacking motivation. To solve this problem she gets them to do MEC web projects in class and for homework. Once the research is done students present what they have learned using a movie slide show, which can be created in iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. This is a great way of incorporating a speaking activity into MEC web projects. It also makes sure that everyone does their homework with enthusiasm!

By using online resources alongside her own worksheets Judith has made MEC easily accessible to her low-level learners. As a result she's found that using MEC has hugely improved their motivation to learn English.

Judith's ideas provide some real food for thought. The general consensus from clinic participants was that blending MEC with traditional programmes of teaching and assessment is the most effective approach to using it.

You can find an overview of Judith's presentation here: MEC clinic1.pdf (879.26 KB)

The clinic participants were:

Fernando Cabral and Vinicius Silva - Cultura Inglesa, Brazil

Christina Kaku - International House, Czech Republic

Olga Nikulina - Talisman, Russia

Silvia Tiberio - Freelance, Argentina

A huge thank you to Judith and everyone who took part. Keep watching the blog for news of the next MEC clinic, and don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.'

Byron Russell 

The clinic was entitled 'Stories around the Campus fire - top tips for using MEC in your school'. The aim was to outline some case studies of how MEC has been used in various organizations including OPTI, IH Pisa, CISP (Cultura Inglesa Sao Paulo) and the University of Trento.

Here is Byron's PowerPoint presentation: Microsoft PowerPoint - Stories round the Campus Fire.pdf (96.52 KB)

Online meeting software from Juniper was used along with a separate conference call run through Arkadin. The clinic lasted about 45 minutes - the first 30 minutes for Byron's presentation, the last 15 minutes to give the participants time to ask questions and discuss their different techniques for implementing MEC.

One point raised was that communicating ideas and methodology is an important part of making the most of MEC. This can be done through regular cascade training from one of an organization's appointed 'MEC Champions'. At CISP, MEC is integrated into lessons as well as being used for assessed homework. This embedded model is supported by CISP's teacher training site which is run on a Moodle platform. More traditional ways of sharing ideas, such as putting lessons plans on the staff-room pin board, are also used. It was suggested during the clinic that a blog shared by MEC teachers within an organization would also be a convenient way of communicating.

Another point was that the schools using MEC most successfully are creative and flexible (such as IH Pisa where a SKYPE distance learning programme is used) and integrate MEC into their overall programme of teaching and assessment (such as OPTI where online assessment and placement testing is used along with face-to-face computer-lab teaching).

Vic Richardson explained that at Embassy students use MEC as part of their coursework. Results in the MEC Markbook count towards their overall coursework grade. A recent survey at Embassy showed that while 75% of students give highly positive feedback on MEC, only 25% use it of their own accord outside class. Embassy's method of using MEC for graded coursework ensures that students get the greatest benefit from it. In addition to this MEC Champions at Embassy meet every three months to share ideas for lessons and blended learning courses.

The clinic participants were:

James Frith of Bell International

Mark Jasper of the British Council

Neil Ballantayne of the British Council

Vic Richardson of Embassy

Thank you to Byron and everyone else involved for making the first MEC clinic a big success!

The next clinic will be with Judith Dick of OPTI on Thursday 28^th June.

Keep watching the blog for more information or email s.earnshaw@macmillan.com