Technology for Teaching and Learning

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

This post will be helpful for teachers from Spanish speaking countries that use notebooks with English keyboards or English speakers that occasionally have to type words in Spanish with accents.

This was a problem for me for many years when I used keyboards for English because I had to change the keyboard settings and then remember which key was the accent. This change of settings also changed what other keys did which was also a problem.

Since I started using “Spanish Accents CapsLock” I solved all these problems. I do not need to change the settings on my keyboard and I can easily put accents just holding down the caps lock key and the letter I want an accent on.

You can download the program here http://www.onehourprogramming.com/spanish-accents/.

I hope you enjoy it as much I did.

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By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

Ten websites to get free images to use in your presentations.

Take a look at this link where CG Garcia reviews ten websites where you can download images to use in your presentation: https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/where-to-download-public-domain-images/.

The review presents a short description of each site with tips on how to get the best and faster results from all of them.

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By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

The best and easiest way to give feedback to a learner on his or her work is to sit down together, review the work and give the feedback. The problem is matching learners and teacher time. This is why most of the time we give written feedback. Written feedback, is very time consuming and usually, it is not as rich in details as when you do it face to face.

A workaround to this is using recorded feedback. A personal example of this is when I review the PowerPoint presentations residents send me before presenting at meetings. As I go through the slides I record the screen using Screecast-o-matic (https://screencast-o-matic.com/) and make my comments. In this way, I am able to point to different parts of the slides and make my comments as if we were together. When finished I can upload the video or send it as an attachment.article we are linking to.

If you were reviewing written work you could use your phone camera or audio recording software to record your feedback.

You can read more on this topic at https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/using-screencasts-for-formative-and-summative-assessment/.

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By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

Today we will review one way you can stimulate deeper learning in your trainees. It is based on using the flipped classroom strategy and mind maps.

If you are not familiar with the flipped classroom concept you may want to read this article we are linking to.

Steps of the process

1. Give your learners a link to a presentation or paper they must watch or read
2. Ask them to create one branch in the mind map for every concept the presentation or paper presents.
3. Instead of using in the title of the branch the name of the concept, have them present the concept as a question
4. If the concept leads to other concepts, have them develop child branches in the same manner.
5. Have them share their mindmap with you and give them feedback

Building the concept map and its questions will make them incorporate and process the new knowledge. Having them build the questions will make them elaborate further on them and contribute to moving and storing this knowledge in their long term memory.

Go to the example below to see a mind map developed after watching a lecture on optic disk examination

Click here to go to the example.

The software I use most is Mindmeister. You can find others in this link.

I have no financial interest in any of them

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