Listen now or download Episode 048 (42:52)

The discussion:

• Research Skills in a Web 2.0 World - Joining Martin and Sallie for our monthly classroom technologies discussion is Gail Potratz, Technology Coordinator for Emanuel in New London, WI.  Today’s schools are preparing students for careers that don’t even exist currently.  The discussion centers around how to equip students with skills to succeed in this Web 2.0 world.
  • David Warlick’s Literacy & Learning presentation
  • Evaluate a web page using Yahoo! search > Linkdomain:AnyWebAddress.com
  • Internet Search Tools for Students and Teachers
  • A Vision of K-12 Students Today

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (26:10)
  • Teaching 21st Century Skills
  • Google Safe Search preferences
  • BiblePlaces.com photo library
• Of interest (34:35)
  • Live streaming of the Koine Christmas concert
    • December 6 @ 5 p.m. CST from Christ Lutheran in Pewaukee, WI
    • Sponsored by WELS Military Services
• Community feedback (36:20)
  • Jason Winget shared a link on the WELSTech Listserve
    • Royalty-free Christmas music - www.feelslikechristmas.com
  • Add your feedback or ideas about Church Media or Content Management Systems to the WELSTech wiki @ welstech.wetpaint.com
• Coming up on WELSTech (38:29)
  • Episode 049 - Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky will be our discussion topic, and we will hear from Ray Brown of Summerlin Lutheran in Las Vegas, NV on the subject of video e-mail

The featured artist:

• We close with music of Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Revelation music ministry (www.revelationwlc.com) - I’m Free from their Led by Light CD (40:42)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 047 (41:12)

The discussion:

• Content Management Systems - WELS.net webmaster and manager of WELS Web Services, Julie Duran, joins Martin and Sallie for a discussion of the “big three” open source Content Management Systems (CMS) - WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.  Any of these software solutions could be used to build and manage a church or school web site, and the conversation includes pros and cons of each option.
  • FinalWeb
  • WordPress
    • St. Paul’s in Washington, DC
  • Joomla
    • Eastern Montana WELS
    • Cornerstone
  • Drupal
    • Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
    • Salem Lutheran in Stillwater, MN
  • Open Source Content Management System Overview (.pdf)
  • Visit the WELSTech Wiki to share your experience with any or all of the CMS systems discussed

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (24:45)
  • Balsamiq Mockups
  • Visualizing the Bible image
  • Sync your password management files across platforms
    • PC - Password Safe
    • Mac - Password Gorilla (reads Password Safe)
    • Sync via Live Mesh
• WELS.net feature (33.15)
  • Church Year Worship Resources
• Community feedback (33:55)
  • John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI shared additional search engine optimization tools from Google
    • Insights for search
    • Search-based keyword tool
• Coming up on WELSTech (35:33)
  • Episode 048 - Gail Potratz joins us for a discussion on teaching our children research skills in a Web 2.0 world

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, Michael Schroeder (michaelschroeder.com) - O Come, O Come Emmanuel from his CD titled The Reason For the Season (37:35)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 046 (53:29)

The discussion:

• Event promotion - Martin and Sallie share ideas for taking your congregation or school web site to the next level by moving beyond the basics - location & service times - to focus on the events that are happening, utilizing your web “channel” as an important component in your overall communication plan.
  • Sample event-based congregation web design - www.gccwired.com

The interview:

• New features on FinalWeb (18:14) -  Brian Shaffer, of FinalWeb.com, joins Martin and Sallie to announce some exciting enhancements to the FinalWeb system including higher storage capacity, calendar enhancements, and a custom tool for building templates.
  • Learn more about FinalWeb - www.wels.net/jump/webhosting

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (37:19)
  • Understanding fair use in education
    • The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
    • A Fair(y) Use Tale
  • Online video conversion - www.vixy.net
• WELS.net feature (41:31)
  • Streams Seasonal Radio
  • ShopWELS.net - new relationship with Ricoh grants special pricing on copiers for WI participants
• Community feedback (44:10)
  • Last week’s interviewee, John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI, sent a follow-up link to a new resource from Google - SEO Starter Guide
  • Pastor Paul Jansen from Holy Scripture in Ft. Wayne, IN easily created an iGoogle gadget for sharing his sermon RSS feed.
• Coming up on WELSTech (46:55)
  • Episode 047 - Julie Duran, WELS Webmaster, joins us as we take an inside look at popular Content Management Systems (CMS) including WordPress, Joomla and Drupal

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, Mike Westendorf (www.mikewestendorf.com) - Climb The Mountain from his CD with the same title (48:26)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 045 (48:01)

The discussion:

• Check out Martin’s completed deck project 
• National Distance Learning Week - Distance education is growing in popularity, and with today’s Web 2.0 tools, the barriers to creating your own distance learning initiative are virtually gone.  Martin and Sallie discuss the components of a distance learning offering and share tips for starting your own objective-based online learning.  We also showcase WELS’ many online learning resources for Bible study, ministry support and more. 
  • www.wels.net/jump/ndlw

The interview:

• Search Engine Optimization (14:56) -  WELS member John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI is a business owner of a web development company, WebStream Dynamics.  John joins Martin and Sallie to share his knowledge on marketing web sites and search engine optimization, and we look at applications of these techniques for church web sites.
  • Google’s Keyword Tool
  • Submit web sites for free to the top three search engines:
    • Google
    • Yahoo
    • MSN
  • Add a free business listing to MSN Live Search
  • Add a free listing in Google Maps
  • Evaluate your site with John’s Title Tag and Meta Description tool

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (31:35)
  • Mindjet MindManager 8 upgrade - Free trial download
  • USB-based speaker phone from ClearOne - CHAT 50
• Of interest (37:29)
  • Live streaming of the Western Regional Choral Festival concert
    • November 16 @ 2 p.m. CST from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School in New Ulm, MN
• Community feedback (39:18)
  • The WELSTech facebook group has 94 members! Will you be member 100?
  • Ryan Rosenthal from Faith in Fond du Lac, WI shared a link to LibriVox.org.  The goal of the site is to make all public domain books available as free audio books.
• Coming up on WELSTech (42:53)
  • Episode 046 - We’ll take a look at “Event Driven Marketing” as you prepare your web site for the Advent and Christmas season.  The interview will be with Brian Shaffer of FinalWeb.net, and he’ll share new features being implemented for their web hosting customers.

The featured artist:

• This week we close with the music of In His Service featuring WELS musicians Dr. Patricia Backhaus and Valerie Floeter (www.adagioconcepts.com) - Gabriel’s Message from their CD titled In His Time (45:03)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 044 (53:29)

The discussion:

• Podcasting teachers - Gail Potratz, Technology Coordinator for Emanuel in New London, WI, joins Martin and Sallie to share her experience leading a breakout session on podcasting at the Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers’ Conference last week.  The session goals were to learn about the uses of Audacity, free, open-source audio editing software, as well as share ideas for using technology in the classroom.  We hear ideas from many of the participants as they make their podcasting debut!
  • Gail’s presentation wiki - wlstc.wikispaces.com

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (30:01)
  • Skype phone - Philips VOIP841
  • Build a personalized home page - Pageflakes.com
  • Transcribe voice mail - PhoneTag.com
• WELS.net feature (42:51)
  • Benefit Plans Office - www.welsbpo.net
• Community feedback (43:47)
  • Following up on last week’s comment from Kevin Smith at Christ in Zumbrota, MN, we heard from Jenifer with ProCare Software who offered to help out with a future podcast episode
  • Perry Lund, an elder and Sunday school teacher from Grace in Oskaloosa, IA, shared info on how he uses his iPhone for ministry
  • Join the conversation on the WELSTech listserve
    • Accelerated reading custom quiz collection
    • Congregation membership data mapped in Google Earth
• Coming up on WELSTech (46:50)
  • Episode 045 - We celebrate National Distance Learning Week and talk with WELS Internet entrepreneur John Simonson about marketing tips for congregational web sites
  • In December - We’ll be discussing Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, Kevin Loersch - Abide With Me from his CD titled Abide with Me (48:55)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 043 (51:48)

The discussion:

• Mobile Technology - ”Texting and twittering and smart phones, oh my!” Martin and Sallie discuss the technology behind in-your-pocket, cell phone-based communication and how it will potentially affect our future ministry efforts.
  • Twitter, Text Messaging, and Youth Ministry
  • Texting Etiquette
  • Twitter in Plain English video from CommonCraft
  • iPhone 3G
  • T-Mobile G1 with Google Android

The interview:

• iPhone in Ministry (17:40) -  Pastor Johann Caauwe from Trinity in El Paso, TX joins Martin and Sallie to share his experience of using the new iPhone 3G in his ministry - a great example of technology as a servant in ministry.
  • Pastor Caauwe’s blog - Tools of the Trade

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (35:15)
  • SearchMe.com and SearchMe.com/lite - visual search engine
    • Check out the WELSTech Episode 043 Stack
  • The Bible Experience - full cast audio
• Of interest (40:55)
  • Live streaming of the Spanish Reformation Service
    • October 31 @ 7 p.m. CDT from Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI
• Community feedback (41:38)
  • Andy from Mt. Olive in Overland Park, KS suggested a future show topic on web site software options
  • Kevin Smith from Christ in Zumbrota, MN pointed us to ProCare Software for pre-school management
  • Ryan Rosenthal from Faith in Fond du Lac, WI shared his experiences with introducing new technology in his classroom and congregation
• Coming up on WELSTech (46:12)
  • Episode 044 - Podcasting from the Wisconsin Teachers Conference with our semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, Gail Potratz

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, WendySue Fluegge (www.wendysue.com) - All from her CD titled The Instrument (47:30)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 042 (41:35)

The discussion:

• Redesign your church or school web site - Most congregations and schools have had a web site for some time and may be due for a “facelift” or redesign of the content, look and navigation of the site.  Martin and Sallie share ideas for evaluating your site to make it appealing and useful for the various audiences who visit.
  • CSS editors
    • Stylizer
    • CSSEdit for Mac
  • Color schemes - kuler.adobe.com
  • Top 85 Church Websites

The interview:

• WELS.net redesign (17:34) -  In part two of our interview with Joel Hochmuth and Alicia Neumann from WELS Communication Services, we hear about the upcoming redesign of the synod web site, WELS.net. 

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (25:04)
  • The Periodic Table of Videos - www.periodicvideos.com
  • Open Office 3.0  - www.openoffice.org
• WELS.net feature (30:21)
  • Explore the Bible - www.whataboutjesus-explorethebible.com
• Of interest (31:48)
  • Live streaming of WELS Regional High School Choral Festivals
    • November 9 @ 2 p.m. CDT from Illinois Lutheran High School
    • November 16 @ 2 p.m. CDT from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School
• Community feedback (33:58)
  • John Shoosmith from Redeemer in Yakima, WA shared information on Google video indexing and asked about setting up podcasts for iTunes
  • Gail Potratz from Emanuel in New London, WI shared information on creating webouts
  • David Schumann from Peace in Janesville, WI shared ideas about using Skype of long distance worship.  Share your experience if your congregation does this.
• Coming up on WELSTech (38:27)
  • Episode 043 - Mobile Technology - How can you use a cell phone for ministry?

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS contemporary praise band, Koine (www.koinemusic.com) - Crown Him With Many Crowns from their CD titled Koine (39:09)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 041 (57:44)

The discussion:

• Electronic newsletters - Most congregations and schools rely heavily on monthly and weekly newsletters to facilitate communications with members and school families.  Today Martin and Sallie take a look at various options for going electronic with your newsletter communication.
  • NewsletterWritingTips.com
    • 5 Sure-Fire Ways to Annoy People With Your Email Newsletter
  • PDF creation tools
    • CutePDF.com
    • PDFill.com
  • Open source desktop publishing - Scribus.net
  • Check out Episode 026 for tips on mass e-mail
    • ConstantContact.com
    • iContact.com

The interview:

• Together (20:10) -  Joel Hochmuth and Alicia Neumann from WELS Communication Services join the discussion to share information on the synod’s bi-weekly electronic newsletter, Together.
  • Read Together online - together.wels.net
  • Subscribe to Together for e-mail delivery - together.wels.net/subscribe
  • Get Together in PDF format for inclusion in your church bulletin

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (37:45)
  • Online drawing tool - www.dabbleboard.com
  • Kuler by Adobe - kuler.adobe.com
• WELS.net feature (43:03)
  • Mission Connection online archive
• Of interest (44:21)
  • We have a winner!  Listen as we play additional voice mail contest entries from our listeners and choose a winner of the recent WELSTech contest. Enjoy shopping at cafepress.com/welstech!
• Community feedback (51:07)
  • Jeff Clark wrote to share information on hardware configurations - a possible discussion topic for a future WELSTech episode
  • Cindy Krueger from Shepherd of the Hills in Lansing, MI shared a link to an article by Dan Lohrmann titled “How Safe is Cloud Computing?“
  • Following up on last week’s interview, we heard from Andy Theimer that there are 8 new “inWELS” members on LinkedIn, and we also heard from one of those new members, Danny Smith
• Coming up on WELSTech (54:05)
  • Episode 042 - Redesign - Why and how to redesign your web site plus the inside scoop on the upcoming WELS.net redesign

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS pianist, Dawn Gehlhar - Precious Lord Take My Hand from her Inspirations CD (55:07)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 040 (1:02:56)

The discussion:

• Social networking inside the congregation - Martin and Sallie explore ways to extend your ministry efforts online via social networks.  From file sharing to gathering information via web forms to two-way interaction about Bible class topics on discussion forums, using web 2.0 tools to connect with members and connect members to other members with like interests (Mom’s groups, etc.) will become more and more acceptable and expected in this digital age.
  • Create your own social network at Ning.com

The interview:

• inWELS (21:31) - Andy Theimer, WELS member and entrepreneur, joins Martin and Sallie to share information about a group he’s started on the business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn called “inWELS”.  Listen and learn more about the benefits of being part of “inWELS”.
  • 
  • Learn more about LinkedIn
  • Read the LinkedIn blog

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (40:11)
  • Online language lessons with a social twist - www.livemocha.com
  • Real-time web site analytics - www.woopra.com
• WELS.net feature (48:46)
  • WELS Yearbook - www.wels.net/jump/yearbook
• Of interest (51:08)
  • WELSTech contest - Extended to midnight, Sunday, October 12th
    • Phone in your comments (414-375-2334) to this question: What digital devices do you use in your classroom or Bible class? 
    • All comments will be entered in a drawing for a $15 gift certificate to the WELSTech Podcast store - www.cafepress.com/welstech
  • www.k12onlineconference.org
• Community feedback (53:46)
  • Cindy Krueger from Shepherd of the Hills in Lansing, MI shared a “green” link to ClimateSaversComputing.org
  • Ryan Rosenthal from Faith Lutheran School in Fond du Lac, WI suggested we dedicate a show to computer maintenance
  • Pastor Scott Mews from Amazing Grace in Milwaukie, OR is a first time listener - Welcome to WELSTech!
  • David Schumann from Peace in Janesville, WI is enjoying mind mapping with FreeMind, featured in WELSTech Episode 002
• Coming up on WELSTech (57:48)
  • Episode 041 - All about newsletters - For your congregation or school as well as the synod’s Together newsletter
  • Episode 042 - Redesign - Why and how to redesign your web site plus the inside scoop on the upcoming WELS.net redesign

The featured artist:

• We close with music of Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Revelation music ministry (www.revelationwlc.com) - God of Wonders from their We Walk By Faith CD (59:05)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

Listen now or download Episode 039 (1:03:07)

The discussion:

• WELSTech Goes GREEN - Martin and Sallie share ideas for churches, schools and individuals to reduce, reuse and recycle their electronics for both environmental and, at times, monetary gain.  In these ways we can be wise stewards of the gifts entrusted to us. 
  • Is a ‘Phantom’ Stealing Your Electricity? 
  • Zero Client computing for Windows from Pano Tech
  • Recycling electronics
    • Gazelle.com
    • VenJuvo.com
    • MyBoneYard.com
    • TechForward.com
    • EPA Recycling Locations
    • myGreenElectronics.org
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare Server
    • Xen.org

The interview:

• Using Blogs for Outreach (22:50) - Pastor Mark Cares, author of Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons, joins Martin and Sallie to discuss the exciting attention his new blog, Markcare’s Weblog, is receiving and how the blog fits into Truth in Love Ministries overall plans for outreach to Mormons.
  • markcares.wordpress.com

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (39:09)
  • Select parts of web page(s) for printing - PrintWhatYouLike.com
  • Install a new print driver for selectable printing from your desktop - PrintGreener.com
• WELS.net feature (44:03)
  • Spanish language resources
    • Cristo Palabra de Vida - www.cristopalabra.net
    • Blog - cristopalabra.wels.net
    • Virtual Church - www.iglesiavirtual.wels.net
    • Upcoming chat on Reformation - October 28 @ 8 p.m.
• Of interest (47:40)
  • WELSTech Contest - Phone in your comments (414-375-2334) to this question: What digital devices do you use in your classroom or Bible class? 
    • All comments received by October 7, 2008 will be entered in a drawing for a $15 gift certificate to the WELSTech Podcast store - www.cafepress.com/welstech
  • WELSTech Wiki - Share your church media experience
• Community feedback (55:13)
  • Pastor Kevin Draper from St. John’s in Sleepy Eye, MN shared information on potential wireless microphone problems.  Listeners are invited to update the WELSTech Wiki - microphones page with additional resources on this topic.
  • Listener Ralph Miller pointed us to the multi-media Bible resource, iLumina Gold Premium Edition 
  • Pastor Steve Bauer from Faith Lutheran Church, in West Newton, PA shared links to free open source software for churches
    • Church Management
    • Worship Planning

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, Michael Schroeder (wctc.net/~mas) - In My Life from his CD titled A Witness (59:54)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook