The first session was a general overview of Campus resources and tools. If you want to see the Campus introduction click the link below.

English Campus Overview.pdf (2.71 MB)

The session ended with a Campus Quiz which you can have a go at yourself by clicking the link below.

English Campus quiz.pdf (1.93 MB)

The second session was more advanced and we looked at how to use the resources and tools on campus both inside and outside the classroom. You can see some of the ideas for using Campus in class by clicking the link below.

 Campus in use.pdf (2.25 MB)

We also looked at some of the resources in the Campus Teachers' support area, which include lesson plans, the Guide to Campus and pre-recorded training sessions. You can find them all by logging in to www.macmillanenglishcampus.com/login. If you can't remember the password, just contact me at s.earnshaw@macmillan.com.

Participants at the training sessions gave lots of positive feedback on Campus along with some useful suggestions for future developments. The university is well equipped with interactive whiteboards and computer labs so we're looking forward to finding out how everything goes once they start using it with the students.

The swankiest shelter around

This news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about a refuge for homeless people in Berlin which has been renovated to look like a luxury hotel.

Go to the News Items section on your Work Area screen to find out more.

Here are some ideas for using Word Lists in and outside of the classroom. If you can't quite remember how to create and send Word Lists then there is a reminder for you at the bottom of this posting.

1.     During your lessons note down any new vocabulary that has come up. Add these new words to your Word Lists page including the definition and then send them to your learners as a package to revise.

2.     As a homework task send a vocabulary list to your learners using the Messages function. Ask them to add each word to their Word Lists page and to find the definitions using Macmillan English Dictionary Online. Check their definitions in the next lesson as a whole class.

3.     Select a list of vocabulary. Add the words to your Word Lists but mix up the letters so each word appears scrambled. Remember to add the definitions too. Send the package to your learners or show the scrambled words on an interactive whiteboard or data projector. Ask your learners to identify the words and if you feel it's necessary click on the plus sign to show them the definition as a clue. As an extra task learners must create their own Word Lists with the unscrambled words and their own example sentences instead of just the definition. Allow learners to delete the original package of words so they can keep their Word Lists page tidy.

4.     Ask your learners to create a Category called 'Word of the day'. As an ongoing project they must look up a new word in English each day and add the word to their Word Lists and Category. At the end of each month learners must write a story, poem or any piece of writing using all of their new words.

5.     Send your learners a list of vocabulary and then a list of definitions underneath in a different order. As a homework task learners must match the vocabulary to the right definition and add them to their Word Lists. Check answers as a class in the next lesson.

Creating a word list

To set up a word list, click on My Word Lists in the Work Area, or select Word List from the navigation buttons at the top of the MEC screen. This will take you or your learners to their Word List page, like this one.

Add new words to the list by clicking Add new. This following screen will appear:

Argentina and Uruguay tango together

This news item is about the origins and history of tango. Argentina and Uruguay are applying for UNESCO world heritage status for the dance.

Go to the News Items section on your Work Area screen to find out more.

Love is in the air on onestopenglish this month, so we think you should enjoy the cute little cupid in this St Valentine's video.

We've got two pin-ups for you this month: Shah Rukh Khan, the king of Bollywood; and our very own Jamie Keddie, February's Author of the Month.

Not that Little Milly-Molly, star of this month's poem for young learners, will be interested: she likes toys but she definitely doesn't like boys! Read the lesson plan to find out more.

Finally, don't miss our series of Nursing-English worksheets and podcasts. Part three is all about diet and obesity and is available at intermediate and advanced levels.

In March, as you probably know, two new Cambridge ESOL exams will be taken for the first time: KET for Schools and PET for Schools. These exams have exactly the same format as the existing KET and PET exams and the exercise types are just the same, but the topics and situations have been made more suitable for the many young learners who take these exams.

The handbooks for the new exams were not available for publishers till November last year, so there hasn't been a lot of time to react! We at MEC did want to react though, and today we have re-published all the existing KET and PET resources (100 of them) with new descriptions indicating whether they are suitable for the original exams or for the 'for Schools' exams or indeed for both of them.

All your learners, whatever their age, can continue to do all the exercises if you want them to, but if your learners have got limited time to practice, we hope that the new descriptions will help you to choose the most appropriate ones for them.

You can find the exercises for the new exams if you key "KET for Schools" or "PET for Schools" in the Word & Phrase Search. Or you can find all the exercises with their new descriptions by choosing the relevant exam via the'Exam Preparation Exercises' page on the 'Tests & Exams' tab and then maximizing the list (using the + button on the far left of the toolbar) so you can see the descriptions. We hope you find them useful!

Shah Rukh Khan is the king of Bollywood



This week’s news item is our monthly news item for teens. It is about Shah Rukh Khan, the most famous star in Bollywood.

Go to the News Items section on your Work Area screen to find out more.

You can also find longer versions of the news item with extension activities by logging in to our teacher’s area here.

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

This month's MEC online clinic is all about Course Building. It will cover the following topics:

• The structure of a MEC course
• Labelling a MEC course
• Using a course planning sheet
• Resource selection

We will dedicate 15 minutes at the end of the session for participants to start building their own courses with guidance from the trainer.

The clinic will take place on 27^th February at 3pm GMT

If you cannot make these dates or times for whatever reason please let us know and we will do our best to arrange a more suitable time for you.

What is a MEC clinic?

MEC clinics are short sessions 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 a web-linked computer with sound and ideally a microphone. 

If you are interested in attending this event or you require any further information, please email s.milligan@macmillan.com.

Obama moves quickly to put words into deeds

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about Barack Obama becoming President of the United States and the policies he has begun to put in place during his first days in office.

Go to the News Items section on your Work Area screen to find out more.

February word games

This month's Witch's Pot topics are 'types of sports equipment and sports clothing' (Easy), 'space-related words' (Average) and 'expressions connected with environmental issues' (Difficult).

The Swamp Disaster topics are 'going out' (Easy), 'words preceded by ''on''' (Average) and 'wrong prepositions' (Difficult).

The Wordsearch topics are 'getting married' (Easy), 'star signs' (Average) and 'medical words' (Difficult).

There are new Crosswords and Bridge Builders at all levels too.

Visit the Word Games area to find them all.

Here's a fun site where you can create your own interactive timelines. Xtimeline could be a great way of helping your learners practise tenses or even presentation skills.

It's easy to create a timeline, just register for free, choose a topic and create your own timeline. You can also browse the other timelines for inspiration. We found a good one on the presidents of the United States of America from George Washington to the current president, Barack Obama.

It's easy to scroll through the timelines so they are a great way of presenting information. Below are a few ideas for how you might want to use xtimelines:

§         Get learners to choose their favourite one and them present it to the class. Remember they shouldn't just be reading the text that's there but using what they have read to make their own presentation.

§         Get learners to create their own presentation (they will need to register in order to do this) and then present it to the class in the next lesson. They will need an image for each point on the timeline.

§         As above but learners can send you the link to their timeline once they've finished and you can mark the text they have written. In this way the timeline is a writing exercise as opposed to a speaking activity.

§         Create a timeline together as a class activity. Choose a subject and set the dates, then get each learner or pair of learners to write a different section. You could use a MEC resource for inspiration for this - a News Item might be a good place to start.

§         Choose a timeline and send the link to it to your learners. You can do this by adding it as a Web Link and then sending a package of Web Links to your class. Ask them to read and summarize the timeline for homework and either write down or present the main points of information next lesson.

If you're having trouble thinking of content for your timeline why not try using the 'Digging for dinos' News item on MEC. The 'Dino facts' section will be the most useful part.