713 – Enough With The Boxes!

/in ,

Wonderful … Creative … Verbose? This episode of WELSTech features a talent boost that’s sure to entertain while it educates! We’re sharing what we’ve learned about AI during our book discussion with our special guest edtech correspondents. There’s also a special Advent treat, picks to improve your productivity and video production, plus a couple of cool videos explaining multi-grade classrooms.

The discussion

Ped-AI-gogy – Martin and Sallie, along with our well-spoken education technology correspondents Rachel Feld and Jason Schmidt, return to this season’s book discussion of The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education by Daniel Fitzpatrick, Amanda Fox, and Brad Weinstein. Chapters 4 & 5 are centered around pedagogy and make for an interesting, albeit boxy, look at the continuum of adoption of the current disruptive tool, Artificial Intelligence (AI), in education.

Ministry resource

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

WELSTech celebrates Christmas with an interview of Dan Nommensen

Get involved

Worship Visuals featuring and interview with Corissa Nelson, Digital Artist

712 – Worship Visuals

/in ,

WELSTech is back with a discussion of screen design for worship. Digital artist, Corissa Nelson, joins the conversation to share ideas for getting started designing for screens. AI continues to dominate tech news, and more ideas for church usage are being shared as well. Sallie is excited for home automation, and Martin is reading wisely. Finally, Barna weighs in with a study on Christian’s perceptions of AI usage in church settings.

Worship Visuals featuring and interview with Corissa Nelson, Digital ArtistThe discussion & interview

Aspire to keep it simple – Martin and Sallie are joined by Corissa Nelson, Digital Artist. The topic is worship screens, and Corissa’s advice covers everything from fonts and backgrounds to goals and tools. Corissa is the designer behind many of the graphics in WELS Congregational Services Foundation series for worship planning. Her work can be viewed at corissanelsonart.com.

Ministry resources

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

Rachel and Jason are back to talk more about our edtech book feature, The AI Classroom.

Get involved

711 – Automate All The Things

/in ,

If you are looking for more time in your day, today’s WELSTech is a must-listen! The spotlight is on automating church and school tasks. We also preview the online Gospel Outreach with Media conference, and Martin has found the world’s greatest bookmarking tool.

The discussion

Make it automatic – Martin and Sallie share ideas for doing away with repetitive tasks in favor of no-code computer magic which you set up once and forget. Check out the cloud services that will literally do your work for you!

Ministry resources

WELS and WELS Congregational Services RSS feeds

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

Join us for a conversation with digital artist Corissa Nelson about best practices for worship projection.

Get involved

Just ToDo It - WELSTech 719

710 – Just ToDo It!

/in ,

It’s always a happy day when Martin and Sallie are in the same location for a WELSTech recording, and that’s the case on this episode! Join us in Sallie’s living room for a discussion of to do list, upcoming big events, chair cushions, and a bit of AI in education. You won’t want to miss this dose of WELSTech goodness!

The discussion

Just ToDo It - WELSTech 719To Do lists – Perhaps the first component of any productivity effort is the “simple” to do list. Martin and Sallie discuss their expectations of the perfect to do list tool, including the ability to set reminders, manage recurring tasks, and integrate with email and calendars, as well as a full host of potential tools from paper to digital and across all platforms.

Ministry resources

Mark your calendar for these events happening in the summer of 2024:

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

One thing leads to another in church and school management. Martin and Sallie discuss automating tasks using a variety of utilities.

Get involved

WELSTech episode 709 promotion image - AI in the Classroom.

709 – AI In The Classroom

/in ,

The future has arrived on WELSTech as we kick off a series of shows on artificial intelligence. We also discuss The Foundation series from Congregational Services, making stickers on the Cricut Xtra, using your phone as a webcam, and more. Turn it up and enjoy!

The discussion

WELSTech episode 709 promotion image - AI in the Classroom.The Uprising – A new season of edtech discussion is underway with special guest host, Prof. Rachel Feld from Martin Luther College. We’re discussing the recently published book The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education by Daniel Fitzpatrick, Amanda Fox, and Brad Weinstein. Part one of the book is a bit of a history lesson on artificial intelligence (AI). We talk about what it is, how it works, and ways we’re already using it, plus we look at its potential for the future, and some of the not so admirable qualities of AI.

Ministry resource

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

We don’t know the topic yet, but it will be great because Martin and Sallie will be in the same place!

Get involved

Jesus is enough 708

708 – Truth In Love Ministries

/in ,

This episode of WELSTech kicks off with news of a docuseries in development to reach ex-Mormons with the gospel message. We learn that the Christian Life Resources Convention is just a month away, plus picks of the week include Bible video resources and an important productivity tip. There’s also a call for distance English teachers which has outreach potential as well. We’re happy to join you are at the intersection of tech and ministry!

The discussion

Jesus is enough 708New docuseries – Pastor Mark Parsons from Truth in Love Ministries and Brian Urbanek from GoldWing Productions share details with Martin and Sallie about a new outreach effort to ex-Mormons which will feature a docuseries of videos titled Jesus is Enough.

Ministry resources

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

Educational technology takes the stage, featured our friends Jason and Rachel.

Get involved

707 – Tech Like a Pirate Pt 5

/in ,

WELSTech is back with a wrap up discussion of Tech Like a PIRATE, our Summer 2023 book selection. Teacher Donovan Waege joins the book conversation. Sallie tips her hand on two of her favorite e-newsletters, and Martin shares a new recommended password keeper solution. Plus, there’s a new podcast for your playlist!

The discussion

That’s a wrap – Martin and Sallie share highlights from the closing chapters of Matt Miller’s Tech Like a PIRATE: Using Classroom Technology to Create an Experience and Make Learning Memorable. Donovan Waege, 5th & 6th grade teacher and Technology Director at St. Peter Lutheran School in Weyauwega, WI and Tech PIRATE, shares his impression of the book as well.

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Check out the latest podcast from Blueprint Schools, hosted by WELSTech friend Dana Kirchoff and featuring another WELSTech friend, Cindi Holman, WELS National Coordinator for Early Childhood Ministry.

Next time

Telling Truth in Love to Mormons (TILM) using tech.

Get involved

706 – Tech Like a Pirate Pt 4

/in ,

Welcome back to WELSTech! Today’s segment of summer reading from Tech Like a PIRATE focuses on exploration and global communication in the classroom. Plus, we learn that even Martin breaks a sweat sometimes, and that’s ok! Sallie plays the hardware pick “ultimate trump card” while Martin does some star gazing. All this, and more, awaits!

The discussion

eBallot.com – Synod Convention electronic voting

Exploration and Global Communication – WELSTech lite summer reading continues with an overview of 7 & 8 of Matt Miller’s Tech Like a PIRATE: Using Classroom Technology to Create an Experience and Make Learning Memorable.

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

We wrap up Tech Like a Pirate with Chapter 9 and an interview with a pirate.

Get involved

705 – Tech Like a Pirate Pt 3

/in ,

Collaborate with WELSTech on our classroom technology discussion of Matt Miller’s book, Tech Like a PIRATE! We review chapters 5 & 6 this week and share a few summer hardware pics we’ve added to our setups. There’s community news covering AI Sermons, Google Ads for Non-Profits, and video professional development for teachers.

The discussion

Image is AI-generated using Canva.com

Collaboration and Imagery – Martin and Sallie discuss chapters 5 & 6 of Matt Miller’s Tech Like a PIRATE: Using Classroom Technology to Create an Experience and Make Learning Memorable.

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

Tech Like a Pirate – Chapters 7 & 8

Get involved

704 – Tech Like a Pirate Pt 2

/in ,

It’s summertime on WELSTech, and this week the discussion is on chapters 3 & 4 of our current reading selection, Tech Like a PIRATE. Martin and Sallie share their picks of the week (royalty free images for your phone and an Apple watch competitor) plus lots of Community Feedback. Join the conversation!

The discussion

Video, Audio, and Games, oh my – Martin and Sallie discuss chapters 3 & 4 of Matt Miller’s Tech Like a PIRATE: Using Classroom Technology to Create an Experience and Make Learning Memorable.

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Register for the free SPARCC EdTech Conference – Live streaming on July 18

Next time

Tech Like a Pirate – Chapters 5 & 6

Get involved