Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

had to find a way around the cost of creating materials. At the same time, it had toensure that teachers would be working with easy-to-use devices without spendinginordinate time preparing materials, assigning tasks and marking them.Given the context, the solution lay not in an open-source platform such as Moodle,but rather in acquiring ready-made content of high quality to eliminate developmenttime and cost. Macmillan English Campus (MEC) was the logical step in that direction.MEC is an internet-based, interactive learning environment that comprises materialfor both adult and teenage courses, and covers General as well as Business English.Users can choose between ready-made courses that complement one of theMacmillan coursebook series, opt for a course built according to the guidelines ofthe Common European Framework for Languages, or use the material available tobuild their own course. The flexibility of the platform and the variety and quality ofmaterial it provides makes MEC suitable for practically every need. In addition, to setcourses users have access to news articles, tests, web quests, a grammar referencesection, games, the Macmillan English Dictionary Online, and materials to preparefor Cambridge exams and the TOEFL test, an alternative to Cambridge examinationsoften needed when applying to work or study in the United States. Teachers as wellas learners are users of the virtual learning platform (VLE), and can log on whereverthey have internet access. New content is constantly created, and the company isresponsible for the quality of the material. The institution pays for the number of userIDs needed per month. It has to issue all users with a password, upload them ontothe VLE, and allocate them to their courses. All in all, MEC does not create a lot ofadditional work at institutional level.Set upIn spring 2007 MEC was introduced to course types that are designed forquick progress: intensive, twice-a-week, and fast-track courses at levels A2–C1,representing a total of 28 classes. The circumstances outlined above limit blendsto two usage scenarios in which MEC is deployed as:1. A tool complementing the face-to-face sessions and thus used predominantlyoutside the classroom.2. An integral part of the course used both inside and outside the language classroom.Both scenarios commence with an introductory session in the language laboratoryor an IT room on the second day of the course. The teacher introduces the classto MEC, helps with logging onto the site and provides learners with an overview ofits features. The group tries out some activities, creates an entry in the word list,is introduced to the dictionary, and spends the remaining teaching time workingon some exercises – both individually and in groups. Depending on the level of thegroup, this session can provide learners with a very detailed overview or focus onmore advanced features of MEC, thus providing learners with the kind of supportthat meets their needs.Lessons in blended learning | 215