Friday, December 21, 2007
News item update!

MEC Senior Editor, Jeremy Smith, writes:

 

 

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about Mongolia and a gold mining boom that is taking place there.

 

Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to learn more about the gold mining and the effects of the boom.

 

New item for the Christmas period will be:

  • Health Train - 25th December
Friday, December 21, 2007 2:36:00 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Monday, December 17, 2007
MEC in Rome: Language Consultants training report

MEC Training Coordinator, Steph Earnshaw, writes:

 

We're delighted to announce that Language Consultants has recently started using Macmillan English Campus. Their MEC training took place on the 6th and 7th of December in Rome, Italy.


A rooftop view of Rome, Italy

 

It was a real pleasure to meet everyone at the training sessions, especially as some as travelled from as far away as Milan. Language Consultants plan to use MEC to provide learners with extra practice alongside their lessons, which are mainly taught in-company. They also plan to use MEC for distance learning courses.

 

Participants at the training sessions gave lots of positive feedback on MEC along with some useful suggestions for future MEC developments.

 

Most of the Language Consultants teachers plan to start using MEC with their students in January so we look forward to finding out how they're getting on.
Monday, December 17, 2007 1:52:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, December 14, 2007
Debatepedia

MEC Marketing Assistant, Julian Chant, writes:

For a great new resource which has loads of material on arguments for class room debates, try out Debatepedia!

 

Debatepedia is a wiki encyclopaedia of arguments, debates, and debate-related materials. It enables anyone from around the world to access and edit anything on the site, and to help document both published and original arguments. Debatepedia aims to 'become a sort of "Wikipedia of debate", and an indispensable and revolutionary resource for readers and thinkers to both produce and uncover all of the information required in rationale conclusion-making'.

 

For an example of the content and structure of the arguments presented, take a look at this proposition: Continuing introduction of new technologies and new media adds little to the quality of most education. (Scroll down the page to read the arguments.)

 

A selection of the topics covered includes:

·         Does technology provide little to teachers and teacher-student interaction?

·         Does technology add little to education in the third world?

·         Does technology detract from individual learning?

 

To find out more and/or to have your say just go to http://wiki.idebate.org/.

Friday, December 14, 2007 2:04:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
News item update!

MEC Senior Editor Jeremy Smith writes:

 

Iran is not nuclear

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about a surprise report by US intelligence agencies which states that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to learn more about the report and its consequences.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 2:57:57 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Monday, December 10, 2007
MEC clinic - course building

How do you use MEC? Would you like some inspirational ideas on how to use the Campus for distance learning courses?


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 Friday 14th December 2007 at 15.00 GMT

Presenter: Steph Earnshaw, MEC Training Coordinator

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.earnshaw@macmillan.com.
Monday, December 10, 2007 2:04:58 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Second Life

MEC Marketing Assistant, Julian Chant, writes:

 

Have you heard about the ever-growing online phenomenon known as Second Life? It's a 3D virtual world inhabited and created by millions of 'residents' from around the globe.

 

A view of Second Life

 

Second Life is a great new communication medium that has a lot of potential for online learning. There are currently a number of in-world venues that cater for ELT including the English Village and languagelab.com.

 

English Village has been using several new 3D technologies including 'Holo-teaching': a tool that enables an online learning space to be instantly changed into any new space imaginable, which can provide interesting role play scenarios for students.

 

Similarly, on top of providing ELT classes and self-learning areas online, languagelab.com offers events and meeting places where students and teachers can interact in the 3D world.


To find out more, go to http://www.secondlife.com/.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:47:18 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Word games and news item update!

December word games

 

The MEC word games for December are available now!

 

This month's Witch's Pot topics are 'adjectives to describe a restaurant' (Easy), 'words that follow "self-"' (Average) and 'past participles to follow "I had my hair"' (Difficult).

 

The Swamp Disaster topics are 'the natural world' (Easy), 'health' (Average) and 'words that mean "exclude"' (Difficult).

 

The Wordsearch topics are 'space travel' (Easy), 'parts of a newspaper' (Average) and 'adjectives describing animals' (Difficult).

 

As usual, there are new Crosswords and Bridge Builders at all levels too.

 

Visit the Word Games area to find them all.

 

 

News item

 

MEC Editorial Assistant, Sarah Cumming, writes:

 

A virtual world

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the growing popularity of virtual worlds and the effect this could have on society in the future. Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to learn more.

 

To find out more about different virtual worlds, including the one mentioned in the news item, visit the following website: Virtual Worlds
Tuesday, December 04, 2007 2:01:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Monday, December 03, 2007
MEC clinic - Course building

How do you use MEC? Would you like some inspirational ideas on how to use the Campus for distance learning courses?


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 Friday 14th December 2007 at 15.00 GMT

Presenter: Steph Earnshaw, MEC Training Coordinator

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.earnshaw@macmillan.com.
Monday, December 03, 2007 1:47:01 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  |