112 – The Best and Worst Picks of 2009

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This week on the WELSTech podcast we look back at our best and worst picks of the week.

The discussion:

RSS Powers WELSTechClosing out 2009 – A year’s worth of Picks of the Week boils down to this special episode where Martin and Sallie share their best and worst selections.  From iPhone apps to social media, 2009 has been a banner year for digital advances.  The many memorable events of the year are showcased, using Google Wave of all things, in the video Waving Goodbye to 2009.

Coming up on WELSTech:

(41:57) Episode 113 – Next week we celebrate the two-year anniversary of the WELSTech Podcast and talk with Nelson Saba, creator of the Glo Bible.   (Release date 01/06/10)

The featured artist:

(43:56) We close with the music of The Branches Band (www.branchesband.com) – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen from their CD titled ”A Branch Is Growing”

Get involved:

111 – Tech Talk with a District President

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This week the WELSTech podcast airs a special Christmas interview with Pastor Jon Buchholz, District President of the Arizona California District.

The interview:

Pastor Jon BuchholzThe Big Two – Arizona California District President, Pastor Jon Buchholz from Emmanuel in Tempe, AZ joins Martin and Sallie to share his insights into the opportunities and pitfalls of social media, and the big two uses of technology in a congregation setting.

Coming up on WELSTech:

(20:19) Episode 112 – Martin and Sallie take a look back at their best and worst picks of 2009. (Release date 12/30/09)

The featured artist:

(22:03) This week we close with the music of Koine (www.koinemusic.com) – Joy to the World from their brand new Christmas CD “Anno Domini”

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110 – The Medium Is The Message

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This week on the WELSTech podcast we discuss chapter 2 of Shane Hipps’ book, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture.

The discussion:

The Power of MediaThe Power of Media – Martin and Sallie explore the fundamental concept of media, as defined in chapter 2 of Shane Hipps’ book, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture.  Heavily influenced by the writings of Marshall McLuhan, Mr. Hipps shares McLuhan’s four Laws of Media which serve as a standard for topics in future chapters.

Ministry resources:

(27:59) Copyright Community blog

  • Check out all of the WELSTech Wiki resources on copyright

News in tech:

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(54:15) Episode 111 – Our special Christmas week interview-only podcast features Arizona-California District President Pastor Jon Buchholz sharing his thoughts on technology in the synod.   (Release date 12/23/09)

The featured artist:

(56:32) A new WELS ensemble joins the WELSTech mix – Branches Band (www.branchesband.com) – Behold a Branch is Growing from their CD titled ”A Branch Is Growing”

Get involved:

109 – Reaching The Technophobe

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This week on the WELSTech podcast Martin and Sallie discuss ideas for reaching out to the non-techies in your congregation.

The discussion:

Tackling tech fears – Has your congregation considered offering TSL classes – “Tech as a Second Language”?  Martin and Sallie explain how patience and communication are key factors in turning technophobes into digital consumers.

The interview:

Missionary Paul Nitz(16:06) Technology Malawi-Style – Missionary Paul Nitz joins Martin and Sallie from Lilongwe, Malawi to talk about the blessings and challenges of mission work Africa, and how technology is helping.

  • Learn more about mission work in Malawi from the Missions blog

Ministry resources:

(36:04) Thanks to Nancy Thompson from Victory of the Lamb in Franklin, WI for tweeting several Christmas worship media giveaways:

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

  • (46:24) Gail Potratz from Emanuel in New London, WI and Jason Schmidt from Gethsemane in Omaha, NE shared great resources using #WELSTech on Twitter:
    • Apture.com – add multimedia to your site with one click
    • The power of the PLN (Personal Learning Network)
  • Dan Nommensen from Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Family Services is looking for tips for his e-newsletter.  Check out
  • Martin’s Glo Bible demo video is a hit!
  • Mark Helman from Twinfinity Creations has the music of Susan Ann and continues to learn from WELSTech!
  • Julie Duran, WELS webmaster, shared additional RSS resources for our WELSTech Wiki RSS page

Coming up on WELSTech:

(57:18) Episode 110 – Our discussion of Shane Hipps’ The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture continues with chapter 2: Perceiving The Powers That Shape Us. (Release date 12/16/09)

The featured artist:

(58:12) This week we close with the piano music of Dawn Gehlhar – O Little Town of Bethlehem from her “Christmas Dreams” CD

Get involved:

  • Add a comment below
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  • Leave us a voice mail 405-FOR-WELS (405-367-9357)
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  • Follow us on Twitter – mspriggs and welstechtrainer
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108 – Tech-Enabled Religion Class

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This week on the WELSTech podcast we share ministry resource examples of technology in religious education.

The discussion:

Wordle Luke 2 Ministry Resources galore – Rather than one short segment on Ministry Resources, today’s WELSTech episode discussion is dedicated to practical examples of technology for religion classes.  Martin and Sallie share links to video and image projects, Bible games, online quizzes and more.  Special thanks go out to Gail Potratz from Emanuel in New London, WI, who couldn’t participate in the recording but shared many links and much research for this episode!

News in tech:

(27:53) Google Chrome Operating System

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

(42:15) Tune in to WELS Streams on December 6th @ 3 p.m. for the live audio stream of the Martin Luther College Christmas Concert

Community feedback:

  • (43:07) Steve Mathwig reported problems with WELSTech updates on the iPod Touch and Martin explains the cause
  • David Schumann from Peace in Janesville, WI suggested Audacity users try the “Normalize” function to even out sound levels in audio recordings
  • This week Jason Schmidt of Gethsemane in Omaha, NE tweeted #WELSTech to share links to 5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page and IKnowThat.com

Coming up on WELSTech:

(51:25) Episode 109 – Tune in to WELSTech next week for a discussion of technology for tech-challenged areas and people plus an interview with Missionary Paul Nitz from Malawi, Africa.   (Release date 12/09/09)

The featured artist:

(52:50) This week we close with the Advent music of Revelation, a music ministry of Wisconsin Lutheran College (www.revelationwlc.com) – A Voice Cries Out from their CD titled ”Led by the Light”

Get involved:

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107 – Feasting on RSS Feeds…and Grits

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This week the WELSTech podcast discussion topic is RSS – consuming and producing “Really Simple Syndication”.

The discussion:

RSSRSS for personal and congregational usage – Martin and Sallie debut the new “Using RSS Feeds” page on the WELSTech wiki.  The page is dedicated to using RSS or Really Simple Syndication, both as a consumer and as a feed producer.  Listen as they share resources, ideas and ministry applications for RSS.

News in tech:

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(49:01) Episode 108 – Our tech in education specialist, Gail Potratz, joins the WELSTech fun to share practical ideas for integrating technology into your religion curriculum.   (Release date 12/02/09)

The featured artist:

(50:20) Celebrating Thanksgiving, we close with the music of WELS instrumentalist In His Service (www.adagioconcepts.com) – Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow from their fourth CD titled In Our Hearts

Get involved:

106 – One-Eyed Prophets

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This week on the WELSTech podcast we kick off a new book discussion.

The discussion:

A lesson from the classics – Martin and Sallie kick off discussion of a brand new book, Shane Hipps’ The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, The Gospel and Church.  In Chapter 1, titled “Seeing But Not Perceiving,” the theme of the book is introduced as the author uses a variety of illustrations to show how the method or media used to deliver a message has an impact on the message. Planning for media usage should be done with an eye on both sides of the potential impact.

Ministry resources:

(27:47) BibleMap.org

News in tech:

(29:15) Google storage price drop

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

  • (37:10) Checking the pulse of the #WELSTechtweet traffic …
    • Ryan Rosenthal from Faith in Fond du Lac, WI verifies SpellingCity.com includes pronunciation and uses words in sentences. He’s a fan of SkyDrive Explorer, the Everyday teen video series and Living Bold podcast devotions.
    • Robert Faust used Twubs.com to track the #WELSTech hashtag on Twitter
    • Nancy Thompson shared a free video clip from Igniter Media Group
    • Sallie retweeted a sample Glogster project for religion class from Rob Jacklin (rjacklin on Twitter)
  • Jeremy Johnson from Risen Savior in Milwaukee, WI will share iTalc with his congregation technology team and uses Dropbox and ADrive for cloud storage.
  • Join the WELSTech listserve discussion on midi in worship
  • The WELSTech public Google Wave continues to grow.  Join by searching for “Calling all WELSTech-ers!”  Send us your e-mail address if you would like a Google Wave invitation.
  • Martin used the WELSTech tag on diigo to share a link to 19 Educational Uses for Google Wave
  • Pastor Phil Huebner from Christ the King in Palm Coast, FL was inspired by Pastor Rob Guenther’s Google site (gethsem.info) and is developing one for his congregation.

Coming up on WELSTech:

(51:11) Episode 107 – Everything RSS is the discussion topic for next week.   (Release date 11/18/09)

The featured artist:

(52:09) This week we close with Corban Creek’s Fly Away

Get involved:

  • Add a comment below
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  • Follow us on Twitter – mspriggs and welstechtrainer
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105 – Learning – Long Distance Style

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This week on the WELSTech podcast we celebrate National Distance Learning Week and talk with teacher Karl Henselin about free computer management software.

The discussion:

Online learning – It’s time again for our annual celebration of National Distance Learning Week.  Martin and Sallie define distance learning in terms of student experience and needed skills, and they explore the possibilities for distance learning in a ministry setting.  Visit our distance learning web page where we showcase all of the WELS distance learning resources.

The interview:

henselin1s(17:15) Managing your school computers – Teacher Karl Henselin from St. Mark in Green Bay, WI was a presenter at the recent Wisconsin State Teacher’s Conference and spent a few minutes with Martin to discuss free software tools for maintaining computers.

Ministry resources:

(28:55) Logos for iPhone/iTouch

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(51:35) Episode 106 – We’re kicking off a new book discussion, Chapter 1 of Shane Hipps’ The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture. (Release date 11/18/09)

The featured artist:

(54:54) This week we close with the music of Michael Schroeder (www.michaelschroeder.com) – The Beatitudes from his CD titled “A Witness”

Get involved:

  • Add a comment below
  • Send us an e-mail [email protected]
  • Leave us a voice mail 405-FOR-WELS (405-367-9357)
  • Add to the WELSTech wiki welstechwiki.wels.net
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  • Follow us on Twitter – mspriggs and welstechtrainer
  • Use the del.icio.us tag welstech
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104 – Glowing About The Bible

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This week on the WELSTech Podcast Martin and Sallie discuss online and personal Bible study with a digital flavor.

The discussion:

onlinebiblestudysDigital Bible Study – Martin shares a recap of his recent presentation at the WI State Teacher’s Conference. We learn about the many types of digital Bible study and about many free and affordable tools for online study.

News in tech:

  • (33:07) Google Wave update
    • E-mail us for an invite, and join the public WELSTech wave by searching “Calling all WELSTech-ers!”
    • The Complete Guide to Google Wave
  • OpenDNS Enterprise – Pricing for K-12 is $500 per year

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(56:10) We celebrate National Distance Learning Week by highlighting all of the online learning opportunities offered by WELS. (Release date 11/11/09)

The featured artist:

(57:05) This week we close with the music of WELS artist Mike Westendorf (www.mikewestendorf.com – Follow mikewestendorf on Twitter) – Come from his CD titled ”Color Through The Gray”

Get involved:

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103 – Games With A Purpose

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This week the WELSTech Podcast focus is educational gaming and Gail Potratz joins the conversation.

The discussion:

Gaming in EducationSafe sites that teach – Gail Potratz, Technology Coordinator for Emanuel in New London, WI and WELSTech’s semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, joins Martin and Sallie for a discussion on gaming in education.  There’s no denying student interest is peaked by video games, and there are many excellent gaming options which also teach.  As schools develop lists of these recommended edu-gaming sites, they are also creating a safe environment for students to surf the web from home.

Safe site suggestions by age group

Pre-K to 2nd grade (non readers):

3rd to 5th grade:

6th to 8th grade:

Ministry resources:

  • (28:15) BabelWith.Me – Real time translation engine for chat
  • Check out the new Lutheran Study Bible from Concordia

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

(37:17) We’ve created a new compilation page for our Ministry Resources

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(41:39) Martin is presenting a workshop on Digital Bible Study at the Wisconsin Teacher’s Conference, so we’ll tap into his session notes and hear from the attendees. (Release date 11/04/09)

The featured artist:

(43:03) This week we close with the music of WELS artist Stephen Bautista (www.stephenbautistamusic.com – Follow stephenbautista on Twitter) – Abandon from his CD of the same title ”Abandon”

Get involved:

  • Add a comment below
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  • Leave us a voice mail 405-FOR-WELS (405-367-9357)
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