Thursday, May 31, 2007
Diary of a London CELTA-girl


Week Two

 

MEC Commissioning Editor and recent CELTA graduate, Jenny Lovel, writes:

 

'I start week two feeling quite tired, having spent the weekend at the IATEFL conference in Aberdeen. In the interview for my CELTA course I was asked if I had any social events planned that would prevent me from doing my coursework. Instead of being honest about the conference, I said that I didn't have any plans for the whole month. Consequently, sneaking up to IATEFL seems like having an affair and carrying textbooks in my conference bag like telltale lipstick on a collar. But at IATEFL I realise how much I've learnt in a week and feel heartened that the hard work I'm putting in is paying off.

 

Jenny's class at IH London

 

In contrast to the first week, in week two we have to submit lesson plans for assessment. These have to detail learning objectives, stage aims, timing, analysis of target language and even a whiteboard plan. Confident the plan shouldn't take more than a couple of hours, I spend most of the evening combing magazines for photographs to illustrate my lesson on lexis for special occasions. When I've stuck pictures of happy couples, birthday presents and glasses of champagne to clashing pieces of cardboard I turn to the lesson plan. Fast-forward five hours and I'm still writing. The plans are unbelievably time-consuming, and need revising constantly. Working out the timing of each stage of the lesson requires military precision and yet it's hard to know how long the students will need. I don't want to be left twiddling my thumbs for ten minutes at the end of the lesson making small-talk and yet I similarly don't want to have to finish mid-activity.

 

Planning is a nightmare and I'm starting to have a newfound respect for teachers. In my lesson observations I realise, with a mix of envy and despair, how easy they make it look. The lessons are relaxed, the teachers have good rapport with the students, there are clear aims and, perhaps most importantly, at no point does the teacher look at his or her watch, mutter an expletive and start cantering towards the end of the lesson leaving the students behind. I learn a great deal from watching these experienced teachers and find this aspect of the course invaluable.

 

As the weekend approaches I start counting down the hours to my well-deserved lie-in and vow to have Saturday off. It's the end of week two.'

 

Does this bring back memories for you? Do you remember your first ever lesson? How much time do you spend planning these days? Leave a comment.

 
Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:20:08 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [2]  | 
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
MEC Clinic

How do you use MEC? Would you like some inspirational ideas on how to get more out of the Campus?

MEC clinics are informal input sessions held remotely up to twice a month via Web Conference They focus on different aspects of using MEC. For example: How a particular teacher has introduced MEC to his/her learners, challenges teachers have faced, tips they would pass on to others, ways of developing learners' MEC searching skills, ideas on blended learning.


The 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. Don't worry! We will take time zones into account. A member of the MEC Training department will be present to assist during each session.

 

Our next clinic will be held on Thursday June 14th 2007, at 2pm GMT.

Presenter: Byron Russell

Subject: Stories around the Campus fire - top tips for implementing MEC in your school.

If you are interested in attending this on-line 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. 

 

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 2:16:39 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Weekly News Item

Korean train journey keeps MEC news on track

We're introducing a new feature on connect2mec. Every week we'll update you on the latest news item that we publish on MEC. Each month we'll also update you on the word games we publish.

This week's MEC news item is about a historic train journey between North and South Korea. It is the first train journey between the two countries since 1950. What does this mean for the future economic and political relationship between North and South Korea? Go to the Headline News area on MEC to find out more.

We have always included Food for Thought questions with our news items because they are something that can be used in the classroom to help stimulate discussion. We're interested to know how you use these questions in class. Please let us know by leaving a comment.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007 10:50:12 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Train, train, train

IH Campus country fair, Katowice, Poland


Katowice

 

Blended learning expert, Pete Sharma, writes:

 

'Katowice in Poland was the venue for the second IH Country Fair. The structure of the day involved three different types of training.

 

Firstly, the input of new knowledge. Participants were new to the Campus, so this was training in the pure sense of the word: to teach with MEC, you need knowledge of the product.

 

After lunch, participants reflected on the respective roles of the teacher and the technology. This type of training, or "teacher development", is fascinating.  As the teacher trainer, I devised a task in which I predicted the answers. However, the task outcomes were different to my model answer. Such divergence illustrates the value of running INSET (in-service training) as a chance to hone your views and test your principles against those of colleagues.

 

The day concluded with a hands-on session. This is skills training and the session took place in a lovely self-access centre. At one point, each of the four groups was completely absorbed in the language games - undeniably one of the highlights of the Campus.

 

What about training in your school? Does it include all three of the above? To integrate Campus successfully, the message seems to be: train, train, train! If you don't adapt to technology, then your school might simply ... miss the train.

 

This day was especially significant as no school in the country is using the Macmillan English Campus, so IH Poland have a real chance to forge ahead with a visible USP.

A huge thank you to Bronwen, Director of Studies at IH Katowice, for organising the day.'

 

The participants

 

Which learning processes are best supported by the teacher and which by technology? Where do the two overlap? Leave a comment.
Thursday, May 24, 2007 3:35:22 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [1]  | 
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
MEC Australia

MEC freelance trainer in Australia, Jo Scellier, writes:


'G'day. I started as a freelance trainer for MEC at the turn of the year with my first training sessions in Brisbane.

Before the Brisbane training, I was learning how to navigate through MEC by playing around with it and following some task sheets. I was amazed at its simplicity and interactivity. So after getting over the initial "Oh my goodness, there's so much there. How do I get my head around all this?" I soon took to how remarkable it was that there was so much cool stuff there. Now, I absolutely love it.

Brisbane

I've worked in ELT and training for over 10 years now and have seen many effective and innovative blended learning programs. One of the great aspects of online learning, and MEC, is the ability for content to be continually improved. I remember those days of updating ELT material when working as an English teacher in Hong Kong - an arduous task! I haven't had a lot of exposure yet to also using MEC in the classroom and exploring its true blended learning advantages, though I do see great potential. 

For me what stands out in MEC are the listening exercises where teachers can drag the listening boxes to cover the questions or the accompanying picture. They can also show or hide the audioscript depending on the students' needs. Students can then access the same listening that was played in class whenever and wherever they want. Flexible learning! I would have loved this when learning French. When looking at it from that angle, I'd love a French version of MEC to accompany my learning!'

What were your initial impressions of MEC and how do you feel about it now? What would you most like to see added to MEC? What are your favourite exercises? Leave us a comment.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 12:28:56 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Thursday, May 17, 2007
onestopenglish

Onestopenglish Web Editor, Becca Sams, writes:

 

'We're somewhere in the middle of our monthly publishing cycle here at onestopenglish. For those of you who aren't familiar with the site, onestopenglish.com is the world's leading ELT resource site with over 420,000 users (and counting!).

 

Our editorial team consists of Claire Pye (Commissioning Editor), myself (Web Editor) and Lucy Williams (Editorial Assistant), so we're a bit smaller than many people imagine but still somehow manage to upload an impressive amount of content each month (all modesty aside).

 

At the beginning of May we published some great content, including reports by Lindsay Clandfield and Karen Richardson on last month's IATEFL conference in Aberdeen, ideas from Jim Scrivener on how to use receipts in the classroom, a reading lesson by Jackie McAvoy on events connected with the moon and, of course, our regular monthly news lesson in association with the Guardian Weekly.

 

In the Staff Room area of the site (our subscription service), we published a grand total of 30 different items, including 12 new downloadable interactive activities, two skills-related articles by Adrian Tennant (one on teaching writing and the other on reading), two Exams lessons, two Business & ESP lessons and a very cute lesson for Young Learners on how to make a puppet - dig out an old sock and some buttons! This was all in addition to our popular weekly news lessons and podcasts (we are currently offering the beginner-level Macmillan Reader, Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen).

 

Next month we will be publishing a survey to find out what our users think of the site as it is now and to give them the opportunity to tell us how we can make it even better.

 

We're really proud of onestop and always welcome feedback on the site. So, if you have any relevant comments, inspired ideas or suggestions, please get in touch - we'd love to hear from you. webeditor@macmillan.com

 

Oh, and don't forget to check out our competitions page - we need your anecdotes and lesson plans!'

Are you a regular onestopenglish user? What's your best ever onestop inspired lesson? Leave a comment.

If you experience difficulties in leaving comments on the blog please let us know and send your comment to s.earnshaw@macmillan.com. We will post it for you. 
Thursday, May 17, 2007 4:34:59 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [1]  | 
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Campus at International House World Conference in Prague, Czech Republic

Director/DOS IH Pisa, Chris Powell, writes:

Prague

'You've got to be on your toes when you're facing 130 IH school directors! There's a miscellaneous mixture of expertise and innovation that's difficult to beat. So it was with a certain awe and trepidation that I set out to expound on how positive Campus has been for IH Pisa in a session entitled "Getting the best out of Campus". 

My main points (see PowerPoint presentation) were that to get the best out of Campus you simply need a combination of imaginative marketing and integration.

Imaginative marketing in terms of the "blends" you're suggesting. Schools should be offered a variety of teacher contact/online combinations and the HR manager should be made fully aware of how the system works. 

Integration in terms of making sure that Campus is fully slotted into your course programme. It's not enough to say "Right, here's your online component. Enjoy!" In Pisa we have a cyclical model whereby the weekly Campus online work is verified and revised using "Campus support activities" in the teacher contact lesson. These vary from traditional fill-the-gap exercises to more dynamic vocabulary or functions based activities. The students' Campus assignments are also an integral part of end-of-course assessment and are referred to in the end-of-course exam.

An IH Pisa model that attracted particular attention was our one-to-one Campus-SKYPE course. Our star pupil here is Luca who works at the Italian Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Twice a week Pisa and Tashkent meet up through SKYPE and Luca has an hour-long teacher contact session with Campus used as a springboard for communicative work at a distance. He then has Campus assignments to do by himself, obviously with follow-up from lesson to lesson.

There are 40-odd IH schools already using Campus and plenty of fresh interest was shown by other schools who'll be coming on board soon. 

What other blends are there out in TEFL Land? Let us know! Do you have any other ideas on how to combine Campus with the latest online technology?'

Here is Chris's PowerPoint
IH Pisa Prague IHWO IH Campus.ppt (99.5 KB)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:32:24 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [2]  | 
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
MEC Training

MEC Training Assistant, Stephanie Earnshaw, writes:

 

'Since joining Macmillan English Campus as training assistant three and a half months ago, I've been on a steep learning curve. There wasn't much time to idle before I started training MEC teachers and administrators. I've been involved in one in-school training session so far, but perhaps I'll be in your school next!

 

MEC is a fantastic place to work with a friendly and supportive team. There's lots of opportunity to meet our customers and help them get the most out of what, I think, is an invaluable resource for anyone learning or teaching English. As a recent recruit, however, I can still vividly remember how it feels to look at Campus and wonder "How will I ever find my way around 2800 (and rising) resourses at six different levels?" Well, as many of you will know by now, it doesn't take so very long.

 

For those who are still feeling a little shaky about their Campus expertise, allow me to offer you five tips on getting the best from the Macmillan English Campus.

 

 

  • Make sure you bookmark your favourite exercises. Use the categories so that you can sort through them easily. (Bookmarks are in your MEC work area.)
  • If you need some professional development look no further than the Methodology database. This is a huge resource of seven major ELT titles, all free in MEC. (Click the link in your work area, type in the subject you're looking for and download the relevant article.)
  • Try using MEC Basics worksheets as lessons, to ensure your students are effectively using their MEC work area. (Find these under resources on the support site.)
  • Integrate the Dictionary into your lessons. It's a vast resource and good fun too. Just make sure your computer speakers are on so you can use the pronunciation facility! (Click the dictionary link above your work area.)
  • Web projects are always very popular with students and can be set either as homework or as a group exercise in class. (Key "web project" into the word and phrase search)

 

If you're still unsure, take a look at the support site. There's a wealth of information there including downloadable lesson plans, the MEC guide and (for any Administrators who may be reading) the Portal guide. Part of my job is to make sure this site stays useful and is constantly updated with the information and resources that teachers need, so if you have any requests do let me know. You can leave a comment on this post or speak to us through the Contact us section of this blog.'

 

What are your favourite MEC resources? Do you have any tips for other teachers using Campus? What do you think of the support site resources and what would you like to see added? Leave a comment.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 9:13:07 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Monday, May 14, 2007
Diary of a London CELTA-girl

Week One

MEC Commissioning Editor and recent CELTA graduate, Jenny Lovel, writes:

 

'Day one of the CELTA course at International House is strangely reminiscent of my first day at school. Perhaps it's the new stationery I'm carrying, complete with OHP markers in colours I'll never need (pink) and an impractical notebook. There are ten of us CELTA students in the class - three men and seven women, who vary in age from 18 to 60. I had expected everyone to be a recent graduate, staving off their inevitable move into 9 to 5 drudgery with an exciting few years spent teaching abroad, but my fellow students' motivations range as widely as their ages. Some are taking CELTA before starting a university course; some for a change of career; and others are relocating abroad. The first thing our tutor does is give us each a letter from a former CELTA student that contains some words of advice. Mine opens with "Dear CELTA student, I pity you, for you have just signed away four weeks of your life". The future has looked brighter.

 

CELTA isn't renowned for easing students in gradually, and on day two my "teaching practice" (TP) group and I are teaching a two hour unobserved lesson as a carousel. I have to teach the students vocabulary relating to family relationships. I decide to draw a simplified version of my family tree, with a liberal dollop of poetic licence. My brother suddenly has a wife and two children, conveniently a boy and a girl. Add in a couple of family snapshots for that personal touch and I feel quite satisfied with my handiwork. A lesson is born.

 

Before the carousel I feel so nervous I would happily do a three hour job interview rather than walk into the classroom. But the name game we've prepared is good fun and puts me at my ease. We divide the students into five groups, and I teach each group for twenty minutes. I run out of material in the first group after fifteen minutes and have to adlib about family resemblances while the students look at me sympathetically. In the next group the conversation turns to vocabulary such as "my step-mother's fostered children" and "my sister-in-law is pregnant" making me wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew. But the two hours go surprisingly quickly and I feel I have really got to know the students.

 

Over the next few days we have input sessions in the mornings, in which we are taught how to teach, and then in the afternoon we take it in turns to teach a 40 minute lesson. In week one we are not expected to do an assessed lesson plan, so preparing for the lessons largely involves queuing for the photocopier and pasting pictures to coloured cardboard. My first lessons go reasonably well, but my attempts to use gesture, mime and enthusiasm make my lessons strangely similar to a one-woman comedy routine. No matter - I've survived week one.'

 

Does this remind you of your first week of CELTA, or did you have a different experience? How different is the CELTA from the DELTA? Leave us a comment.
Monday, May 14, 2007 3:14:31 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, May 11, 2007
IH Campus country fair, Seville, Spain

Seville

Blended learning expert, Pete Sharma, writes:

'The first MEC country fair, at IH Seville, was a hugely enjoyable event. There was a real sense of warmth and camaraderie amongst the participants, from schools across the south of Spain (Seville, Huelva, Cordoba and Malaga) as well as Madrid.

 

A number of things struck me during the day. One was how completely different everyone's individual experience of the Campus is. The participants (teachers, Directors of Studies, School Directors and Campus co-ordinators) have access to the same material, work for the same organisation, teach students with the same cultural and linguistic background, and yet the range of questions, ideas, thoughts and comments during the day was extremely diverse. I see this as positive. We not only discussed what Campus is, but also its potential.

 

Many barriers were mentioned during the day which could prevent teachers using technology successfully. At times these could seem insurmountable. However, in this group of creative practitioners, there was always a sense of "positivism" with people constantly suggesting constructive ideas.

 

There was a lot of excitement about the new lesson plans available on the MEC support site. These should prevent re-inventing the wheel. However, I think it is also important for individuals to work through a series of challenges first - how to set up the data-projector, how to exploit the materials, how to unleash the potential of MEC to transform classroom practice, etc. Each teacher in each school will be at a different point on their own, personal learning curve.

 

Some big questions also emerged: Can "best practice" be proliferated through (say) the support site? Or, are some teachers condemned to always finding technology a frustrating and ultimately negative experience? I came away with a positive glow and a sense of optimism. I believe others were also enthused by the potential of MEC.'


The participants


From left: Helen Rouse, Dos IH Malaga; Mike Green, MEC Training Manager; Linda Harper, Director IH Huevla; Christina Anistadiadis, Dos Adult Students IH Madrid; Simon Armour, DoS IH Cordoba; Jenny Dobson, Teacher and IH Campus co-ordinator IH Cordoba; Colin Dobson, DoS IH Seville; Pete Sharma.

Do you have something to say about your experience of Campus? What do you think of the support site and new MEC Basics worksheets? Do you find technology frustrating or empowering? Leave us a comment!
Friday, May 11, 2007 9:22:05 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [3]  | 
Thursday, May 10, 2007
MEC Editorial Team

Fiona MacKenzie, MEC Publishing Director, writes:

'I thought it would be a good idea to introduce you to some of the people you don't usually meet, the Editorial team working at our London offices. We're right next door to what must be one of the biggest building sites in the world - the King's Cross development which will result in the Eurostar arriving here later this year. So if, in a Harry Potter-ish way, you walk up a railway platform (Platform 1 in our case) you will find us. Many of us will be adding our views from MEC to the blog but here's an introduction.

Aerial view of King's Cross

 

There are also one or two questions at the end which I'd love some answers to - remember that you can genuinely help us to publish more of what you want into MEC if you give us your views via the blog.

 

Michael Lax is our Publishing Manager - he manages the in-house team and makes sure that everything we want to publish gets published. Jenny Lovel is our Commissioning Editor, newly arrived from commissioning for a linguistics list. Jeremy Smith is Senior Editor and Sarah Cumming is Editorial Assistant. There's also David Baker who works freelance as a commissioner and consultant. I should also mention that the teachers' community site, Onestopenglish, which I hope you know, is part of the MEC family. Claire Pye is the Commissioning Editor, alongside Becca Sams, Web Editor and Lucy Williams, Editorial Assistant. Michael also manages an extensive flock of freelance editors and authors and they are spread as widely around the world as the users of MEC. At the moment, we have people working on MEC projects in the US, Argentina, Spain, Hungary, France, Greece and Mexico as well as in the UK. Various of them are people who've worked with us in-house in the past - but we make sure they don't get away once they have such invaluable knowledge about how to make MEC content work.

 

And speaking of MEC content here are my questions, which I hope a few of you will answer because your input would be really helpful. First, some information - we're working intensively at the moment on new functionality and content for our Tests. The Tests area in MEC at the moment is the area I most want to update and improve. What I'd like to know is - if we have a new and whizzy Tests area, would you like to keep the existing Tests? Are they useful? Do you (and your students) use them? If you don't use them, why not? If you do, why?'

Thursday, May 10, 2007 3:03:05 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [2]  | 
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
MEC Goes East!

TELTC Conference

Our sales representative for East Asia, Patrick Hafenstein, writes:

 

'The word of MEC is being spread around East Asia - first destination Taiwan and next stop Japan.  

 

In April teachers got to experience MEC first hand at two conferences - firstly TELTC (Taiwan ELT Conference) and then at NKFUST (National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology) Digital Learning Conference. 

 

MEC did take a back seat at times as the Language Games CDROM seemed to be a better match for the short attention spans people have when browsing booths. Those who did check out MEC (probably those who were bored with the presentations) enjoyed the power of designing and creating their very own e-learning courses.

 

JALT CALL 2007 is just around the corner (June 2nd and 3rd in Tokyo) and MEC East Asia will have a booth set up and also some presentations for you all. Please come along and say hello to me - I'm Patrick Hafenstein by the way, MEC's East Asia rep (see if you can spot me in the picture below).'

 

NKFUST Conference

 

Did you attend TELTC or NKFUST? What did you discover about ELT and digital learning? Leave a comment!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007 12:04:47 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
A Digital Generation Gap

 

 

Jane Wright, our sales and marketing manager in Mexico, writes:

 

'The British Council conference in Bogota, entitled 'Technology and ELT' was a fantastic opportunity for teachers to spark their imaginations on how this process of change can be approached in a positive way. They were able to share ideas on how to use and select from the wide range of different options available to them, in order to harness the possibility of online resources for the benefit of their students.

 

One of the main issues covered was how to support staff through this period of transition and how to make the most of the tools available so that, instead of being perceived as a threat to teachers, they could be seen as a passport to a new and exciting pool of resources. A carefully designed training infrastructure, as well as staff collaboration and support, was seen as paramount.

 

Teaching a generation of students who, from the day they were born, have been exposed to digital technology, cable television and emails can be a real challenge for those of us who were not trained to think in this way. Engaging the modern mind and equipping students with the skills they require in the real world demands a certain command of ICT. These skills are day-to-day processes for modern learners. It also requires the inspiration to explore how to integrate these tools into everyday teaching methodology. 

 

The Macmillan English Campus was presented as being one of the most user-friendly virtual learning platforms, with a unique possibility to match it to an already existing programme of work as well as to guide and monitor student progress. The main obstacle of on-line material was highlighted as being the danger of plagiarism and the non-reliability of much of the content available. Guided materials such as MEC were seen to avoid these pitfalls.'

 

A view over Bogota

Jane's report highlights the issue of digital immigrants and digital natives. These terms were first coined by Mark Prensky in his 2001 article 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants'. You may have spotted them in last week's IATEFL posting. In short, digital natives have grown up surrounded by modern technology while digital immigrants have adopted it at a later point in their lives.

 

Do you consider yourself digital immigrant or digital native? Do you agree with the accuracy of these terms? What is your attitude towards technology and blended learning? Leave a comment!  

Tuesday, May 08, 2007 2:59:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, May 04, 2007
CELTA Diary

OK so who remembers doing their CELTA? 'Ahh...' I hear you say '...how could I forget?!'

 

Well, for those of you who have, or  those of you who would like their memory refreshed in order to get that 'thank goodness I made it!' feeling all over again, we are proudly presenting The CELTA Diary.

 

This is Jenny.

She's in the thick of her CELTA at International House London as we speak, so who better to ask for the latest on modern CELTA courses! One reason for this diary, aside from us wanting to feel smug that we are happily qualified, is because a few people at IATEFL mentioned that CELTA courses do not include any training on blended learning. Rena Penna of the British Council in the Czech Republic was one of those who remarked on this gap in ESL teacher training. You can find her on the British Council IATEFL website. Email her for details of her talk on the role of technology in teaching: Mind the Gap: What ICT skills do teachers need?

 

Over the next four weeks we'll hear from Jenny about what a CELTA is like these days, and whether teachers are being properly prepared for the modern world of ICT and blended learning.

 

We'll have Jenny's first posting at the end of next week. If you are inspired by anything she says please give us your thoughts. We'd also love to hear from you with your own CELTA anecdotes and memories. 

 

Friday, May 04, 2007 4:20:31 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [1]  | 
Thursday, May 03, 2007
IATEFL Aberdeen

The 41st IATEFL conference was held in Aberdeen 'The granite city'

 

Almost a view from our hotel window!

 

 

A large part of the MEC team attended this conference, the group photo on yesterday's posting was in fact taken in Aberdeen. Steph Earnshaw, our MEC Training Assistant, writes:

 

"I really enjoyed visiting Aberdeen itself as there is some pretty impressive (and pretty grey) architecture there. As a first timer at IATEFL I was impressed by the scale of the event. I learned loads just by visiting all the stands and it was great to meet people and put some names to faces. I was very interested in the sessions related to Learning Technologies and really enjoyed Pete Sharma's talk on using technology in the classroom. He also mentioned using free downloadable programs like Audacity to record and edit your own audio. So now I can create my own podcasts!"

 

Of course, MEC had its own prominent stand and many thanks to everyone who came up to talk to us. It was great to catch up with those of you we know and to get acquainted with those of you we don't. For more information on MEC at IATEFL have a look at our Newsletter. We also managed to attend lots of plenary sessions and talks, to help us keep at the forefront of ELT knowledge!

 

So what did we learn at IATEFL?

 

2007 is all about blended learning and using technology in teaching!

With a total of 48 related talks, it's clear that technology in teaching, and blended learning in particular, is really becoming a key topic for discussion in ELT circles. 

 

Sessions of particular interest included:

 

-      Richard Cain's presentation on Podcasting for beginners (British Council)

-      An interview with Nicky Hockly (Consultants-E)

-      Felicity Odell talks about Blogs and Wikis

-      Martin Peacock and Karen Waterston on Teacher Training tribulations - face to face to  virtual space (British Council)

-      For those of you who are regular visitors to onestopenglish, you can also see Rachel Hunt, the winner of their Methodology Challenge which was judged by an IATEFL panel. She speaks here about teaching collocations. (Freelance)

 

For the first time this year you can view the talks online by logging on to the British Council website. You'll find video and audio recordings of some of the most prominent events, including those listed above. You can also post questions for the IATEFL speakers taking part in the forum, so all in all it's a fantastic resource, especially if you were unable to attend the conference in person!

  

The MEC stand



The Macmillan sponsored Ceilidh

 

For a video clip of Aberdeen dancers in action, go here.

 

This Macmillan sponsored event offered many of us our first ever taste of Haggis and experience of traditional Scottish dancing. There was also the launch of the New Macmillan English dictionary which was welcomed with a formal address in true Robbie Burns style. 

 

A great time was had by all - next year the conference will be in Exeter so if you get the chance to go, we highly recommend it!

 

Are you surprised by the strong emphasis on blended learning at this year's IATEFL or did you expect it? As a MEC user you must feel relatively knowledgeable in this area, but would you consider yourself a digital native or a digital immigrant? Do you even recognize the terms? Send us your comments!

 

Thursday, May 03, 2007 11:32:54 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [3]  | 
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Welcome!

Hello there and welcome to connect2mec. Thanks for stopping to take a look, we hope you'll visit regularly!

 

There are so many MEC users out there (75,000 and counting) and all so widely dispersed around the world, that sharing ideas on how best to use MEC was always going to be a challenge. The aim of the blog is to solve this dilemma by giving you an opportunity to share your MEC experiences, and ideas on blended learning in general, with MEC teachers worldwide!

 

While you're here you should also take a look at our Links to other useful ELT related websites and also our Blogroll - there's loads of information from experienced teachers and experts in ELT.

 

We'll be keeping you updated on all the gossip from the MEC offices, running MEC Clinics (online refresher sessions and forums for sharing knowledge), answering your questions, giving you ideas from guest bloggers and MEC authors, and generally providing you with inspiration on how to be the best MEC teacher ever!

 

All your comments and suggestions are most welcome. So go on, give us a piece of your mind - connect to MEC! 


Some of the MEC team, clockwise from top left: Kerry Ormand, Sales Manager; Mike Green, Training Manager; Byron Russell, Sales Manager; John Murray, Sales and Marketing Director; Emma Shercliff, Managing Director; Claire Pye, Commissioning Editor onestopenglish; Kristin Annexstad, Sales Representative; Stephanie Earnshaw, Training Assistant; Magda Giornazi, Macmillan Distributor Libya.

And before you go, take a look at this photo from the MEC archives below. Is it you or do you know this person? Where was it taken and when? Leave a comment!

 

Wednesday, May 02, 2007 10:55:35 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [1]  |