Monday, July 02, 2007
MEC clinic report


MEC Training Assistant, Steph Earnshaw, writes:

 

'The second MEC clinic was held on Thursday 28th 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.'

 
Monday, July 02, 2007 2:49:12 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [3]  | 
Tuesday, July 03, 2007 8:50:36 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Thank you for involving us into such an exciting event as MEC clinic!

It was very useful for at least two reasons. Firstly, it provided us with great ideas how to use MEC with low-level students and secondly, it proved that we have chosen the right way trying to integrate MEC resources into traditional classes.

By the way, are you planning to arrange any face-to-face sessions for MEC teachers from different countries in future? We think it would be a fantastic event.

Best wishes

Olga Nikulina
Olga | okn@inbox.ru
Tuesday, July 03, 2007 3:18:42 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I really enjoyed the clinic held last Thursday. It was very interesting to learn what Judith is doing at OPTI to help low-level learners get more out of MEC.

Judith - Thank you so much for you ideas and enthusiasm. It was a real pleasure to listen to you!

Silvia Tiberio
Silvia | silviatiberio@fibertel.com.ar
Thursday, July 05, 2007 9:25:03 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Thanks for your comments, Olga.

Yes, we're always keen to get MEC users together whenever possible to share best practice.

As you may know, we recently ran a blended learning seminar in our London offices, a summary of which is here on this blog. With International House schools, we have also organised a number of 'country fairs' in Europe. These have been a great opportunity for teachers to share their own ideas with their colleagues, and receive input from Blended learning expert Pete Sharma on the best ways to integrate technology into the classroom. (Pete's blog is www.te4be.com.) Reports on these events in Seville and Katowice are on this blog (postings of 11th and 24th May). We may run more of these later in the year, and not just for IH schools.

And of course, in addition to the face-to-face training that all our customers receive as part of their contract, we also use the MEC clinics as a way of delivering input and training to MEC users from different organisations. You're always welcome to take part, so watch out on this blog for news of more MEC clinics and face-to-face events happening soon!

Steph
Steph | s.earnshaw@macmillan.com
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