415 – Community Feedback

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This week’s WELSTech episode is dedicated to feedback, ideas, questions and links shared by WELSTech listeners. Learn about a cloud-based database tool, text messaging for congregations, a creative, bathroom-friendly way to promote mobile apps which keep people in the Word, and an easy way to share websites with your students using Google Classroom. That’s just the start of the list of WELSTech goodness wrapped up in episode 415!

The discussion:

FeedbackAnything goes – Martin and Sallie share a month’s worth of Community Feedback and there is literally something for everyone. We dare you to not learn something new along the way!

News in tech:

WELS now:

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

The Bible App for Kids Storybook – Order on Amazon

Featured video:

You’re sure to get a grin from these videos – A Conference Call in Real Life and Email in Real Life – new additions to the WELSTech Presentation/Teaching YouTube Playlist.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 416 – Jason Schmidt returns for his 5th year of guest hosting on WELSTech with a discussion of classroom management with technology. Join us Tuesday, October 27 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

414 – With All Your Heart: Ch 2

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The beginning of the project management life cycle is the topic of today’s WELSTech With All Your Heart book discussion. The show also includes an interview with James Mahnke from Luther High and tips for pastoral blogging.

The discussion:

Starting off right – This season Martin and Sallie’s book discussion happens to be one they’re also writing along the way, With All Your Heart: Project Management for Churches, Christian Schools & Other Faith-Based Organizations. The discussion topic of the day is “Discovery” which focuses on the steps which should happen at the start of a project including brainstorming, defining goals, assumptions and requirements, and gaining support for the project.

James MahnkeThe interview:

Planning the details – Luther High School’s (Onalaska, WI) Technology Directory, James Mahnke, talks with Martin and Sallie about the annual BrainStorm K20 conference which he has been involved with for the past 17 years. From a start of just 30 attendees to current attendance of 750 to 800, the conference team has “well-oiled” planning techniques and areas of responsibility.

News in tech:

New from Microsoft – Surface Book

WELS now:

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Why Pastor’s Should Blog

Featured video:

New on the WELSTech Product Demos Playlist is this short introduction to Brainstorming Made Simple from bubbl.us.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 415 – Don’t worry! WELSTech will be back again next week with a month’s worth of Community Feedback from you, our faithful listeners! Join us Tuesday, October 20 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

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413 – How Are You Doing?

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WELSTech welcomes a special visitor from Mexico, Missionary Mike Hartman, who shares an update on the ways technology is serving the work of spreading of the gospel. Martin and Sallie discuss ways to gather feedback on the work of the church and school, tour the updated iOS Podcasts app and share an overview of the new early childhood devotions.

The interview:

Academia CristoLatin America Update – Missionary Mike Hartman from Mexico dropped by the WELSTech Studio West to share news of the tech-enhanced outreach efforts currently underway in Latin America.

The discussion:

The survey says – Martin and Sallie discuss the art of gathering feedback in the church and school setting.

News in tech:

New Chromecasts

WELS now:

Early Childhood Ministry Educators Weekly Devotions

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Share these Latin American Missions sites with your Spanish speaking friends:

Featured video:

Tune in to the WELSTech Instructional Playlist for the Academia Cristo Update for September 2015.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 414 – The season’s book discussion continues as Martin and Sallie share chapter 2 of With All Your Heart: Project Management for Churches, Christian Schools and Other Faith-Based Organizations. Tune in to learn about steps for starting a project. Join us Tuesday, October 13 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

412 – Google Classroom

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School is back in session, and that means the monthly WELSTech focus on educational technology is back also! Gail Potratz joins the conversation to share an overview of Google’s learning management system, Classroom. Young engineers are in the news, and Martin shares a sunny way to manage your schedule.

The interview and discussion:

Google Classroom Logo145x125Learning Google-style – Martin and Sallie welcome Gail Potratz from Emanuel in New London, WI back to the semi-regular classroom technology correspondent share for a new season of edtech knowledge sharing. This month the topic is Google Classroom as Gail walks through creating classes and sharing assignments, even using some of her favorite Google extensions, Doctopus and Goobric.

News in tech:

Congrats to the Shoreland Lutheran High School Engineering Team for winning the GE Design & Build Challenge at the Milwaukee Maker Faire!

WELS now:

Announcing the WELSTech Photo Challenge October categories … Reformation & Fall.

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Brainscape flashcards

Featured video:

This week we’ve added a video from the WELS Hymnal Committee to the WELSTech “Like’s” list on Vimeo. Enjoy a special setting of In Christ Alone, one of the 50 favorite hymns identified in their recent survey. Learn more.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 413 – Martin and Sallie welcome Missionary Mike Hartman to WELSTech as he shares an update on the tech enhanced work happening in Latin American Missions. Join us Tuesday, October 6 at 4 pm Central – welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

411 – Worship Tech

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This week on WELSTech we talk about a creative way to involve members in your ministry efforts, share some security tips for your social media accounts and even throw in some cool (and educational) websites for kids.

The interview & discussion:

core145x125Creative team – Tom Plamann, Technology & Creative Arts Coordinator at The CORE in Appleton, WI, joins Martin and Sallie with a look behind the scenes at the planning, creativity and cutting edge technology (minus a fear of failure) which goes into each worship service.

News in tech:

iOS 9 available for iPhone and iPad

WELS now:

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Ministry resources:

Websites for Kids – A list of great kids sites including …

Featured video:

This week we’ve added not one, but two, projection mapping introductory videos to the WELSTech Product Demos YouTube Playlist – 3D Projection Mapping and Projection Mapping: The Future is Here. Learn more at Projection Mapping Central.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 412 – Martin and Sallie welcome back Gail Potratz to the semi-regular classroom correspondent chair to talk “making” with tech in the classroom.  Join us Tuesday, September 29 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

410 – What You Can Do With A Pixel

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This week WELSTech heads north to Wisconsin Rapids, WI to talk with Allan Bundt about his many uses for the Chromebook Pixel. Plus the show is jam-packed with news and feedback from WELSTech listeners. We tie it all up with a challenge from St. Paul’s in New Ulm, MN to “Do Something.”

The interview & discussion:

Good Shepherd Wisconsin Rapids Video CrewPixelated – Layman Allan Bundt wears many hats at Good Shepherd in Wisconsin Rapids, WI including webmaster, audio/video technician and techy organist and pianist. He’s also a WELSTech Conference presenter who was blessed to walk away with the “grand prize” Chromebook Pixel giveaway. Allan joins Martin and Sallie to talk about his use of the Pixel and his multi-ministry-tech experience.

Picks of the week:

News in tech:

WELS now:

Community feedback:

Ministry resources:

New at FreeBibleImages.org are early childhood friendly Bible story images of the stories of Zacchaeus and Daniel in the lions’ den.

Featured video:

Enjoy Do Something a new YouTube Promo playlist addition from St. Paul’s in New Ulm, MN.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 411 – The topic of the day will be worship technology as Tom Plamann from The CORE in Appleton, WI joins Martin and Sallie.  Join us Tuesday, September 22 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

409 – With All Your Heart: Ch 1

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Things get back to normal on this week’s WELSTech with the return of several favorite show segments including WELS now and ministry resources. Plus Martin and Sallie kick off this season’s book discussion, a project they’ll pen themselves on the topic of project management, and Pastor Steve Daley joins the conversation.

The interview & discussion:

Pastor Steve DaleyRead along – Martin and Sallie kick off a new season of book discussion by revealing chapter one of the book they’ll be writing over the next 8 months, With All Your Heart: Project Management for Churches, Christian Schools & Other Faith-Based Organizations. Pastor Steve Daley from St. Paul in South Haven, MI shares his thoughts on project management challenges and areas he’d like to improve upon.

News in tech:

WELS now:

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Ministry resources:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 410 – We’ll welcome Allan Bundt from Good Shepherd in Wisconsin Rapids to review the Chromebook Pixel he won at WELSTech Conference 2015.  Join us Tuesday, September 15 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Featured videos:

This week’s video selection could help a project team learn to work together. Check out Build a tower, build a team (and related web site) on the WELSTech Instructional playlist on YouTube

Get involved:

408 – Your Mission: Find That Photo!

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WELSTech has reached summer’s end and the the end of the Imagine That series. This week’s final series discussion covers best practices for organizing and storing your images. Listen for picks and community feedback plus a quick survey on project management in your church and school.

The discussion:

Imagine ThatDon’t Lose Your Photos – This episode marks the last installment of the Imagine That summer series as Martin and Sallie share their personal practices for image storage and organization as well as lots of tools to help you get the important job done.

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 409 – A new season of WELSTech gets underway, and Martin and Sallie introduce the new WELSTech book selection, “Project Management For Churches and Schools” by … Martin and Sallie! Help shape the book contents by completing the WELSTech Project Management survey, and tune in for what promises to be an interesting season of writing and reading!  Join us Tuesday, September 8 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

407 – Nothing Boring About Your Photos

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This week on WELSTech we tackle the topic of graphic design with a variety of online and mobile tools for creating professional imagery, infographics and slide shows to communicate a message. Martin tries to Sway viewers to a new way of presenting, and we hear from a WELSTech Hall-of-Fame member with a free eBook to share.

The discussion:

imagineThat145x125Graphic Design – Martin and Sallie help you take your images to the next level with a variety of easy and often-times free image editing tools in this 4th installment of the Imagine That summer series.

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 408 – Next week we wrap up the summer Imagine That series with a discussion of image storage and organization. Join us Tuesday, September 1 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved:

406 – Monkeying Around With Your Photos

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This week on WELSTech the all-things-imagery series, Imagine That, focuses on image editing techniques using cloud-based and mobile tools. And the image discussion doesn’t stop there as Sallie and Martin both share image related picks of the week. There’s also a full mailbag of listener comments.

The discussion:

Monkey GrinBig Monkey Grins – In installment 3 of WELSTech’s summer series, Imagine That, Martin and Sallie share image editing basics including image resolution, color codes, cloud and mobile image editors and browser plugins to make image editing easier.

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 407 – Tune in and take your images to the next level with the graphic design techniques shared in next week’s Imagine That installment. Join us Tuesday, August 25 at 4 pm Central. welstechlive.wels.net

Get involved: