NOVEMBER 2006

Macmillan English Campus announces
a new contract in Italy

Macmillan English Campus is delighted to announce a new contract with the University of Trento in Italy.

The University has already started to integrate the Macmillan English Campus into coursework assignments for students at all levels within the CIAL - the University's Centre for Language Learning.

About the University of Trento

The University of Trento is one of the foremost universities in Italy, with an international reputation for the quality of its teaching and for its international network of partners.

The University has been looking for ways to develop its IT offering and, for this reason, the Macmillan English Campus is an ideal partner. Its association with the Macmillan English Campus will provide the University with a world-renowned, leading-edge technology solution in this ever-competitive market.

The university city of Trento, Italy

How will the Macmillan English Campus be used?

Initially, the Macmillan English Campus is being used with students at the CIAL Language Centre. The CIAL promotes the study of foreign languages through face-to-face courses and through opportunities for self-study in its well-equipped self-access hall and media library. The Macmillan English Campus is ideally placed to support both aspects of the CIAL's teaching.

We asked Kate Riley, Senior Language Lecturer at the CIAL and responsible for implementing the Macmillan English Campus within the university, for her views on incorporating an online element into the CIAL's teaching programmes.

Here's what Kate had to say:

What first attracted you to the Macmillan English Campus?

We saw a presentation of the product at the TESOL conference in Rome last year. At the time we were looking for an online learning programme to improve exam success rates in B1 level examinations.

Self-access products on their own obviously weren't the solution since they couldn't ensure that students were given more exposure to the language, which we saw as essential. The Macmillan English Campus was by far the most flexible product we looked at and we were convinced it was the right solution for our needs.

What benefits do you feel blended learning is bringing to your students?

Paradoxically, we're finding that the Macmillan English Campus encourages them to actually attend classes! The students' current timetables are so full that teaching two English classes a week, which was the schedule last year, was simply too draining on our resources. Now that we have the English Campus, we can reduce the number of scheduled classes to one a week.

This is good news for everybody. Not only are the students more likely to attend classes, since the commitment on their time is lower, but we can also double the number of courses we offer without increasing our teaching staff and overheads.

The Macmillan English Campus also provides a great boost to our teaching schedule. We're currently preparing a number of online exams (we'll have 25 by January next year). Using the test and examination features of the English Campus is great preparation for these.

How are your students using the Macmillan English Campus ?

First of all, they get more speaking practice. Using the English Campus outside the lesson itself is freeing up time for this activity to take place in class.

We're also convinced that it'll make our students more independent. Students at B2 level and above are very keen to learn and it's great to be able to introduce them to semi-autonomous learning.

Are there any features of the Macmillan English Campus you feel will be particularly popular amongst the students?

The games, of course! But the students are enjoying a number of the other resources contained on the English Campus, such as the listening activities. And they are really appreciating the immediate feedback on their performance that the English Campus provides each time they complete a resource.

And finally, from the teacher's point of view, the flexibility and the sheer variety of resources it contains is really prompting their interest.

To find out more about the Macmillan English Campus, please click here.