109 – Reaching The Technophobe

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.

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:

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:

108 – Tech-Enabled Religion Class

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:

107 – Feasting on RSS Feeds…and Grits

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

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:

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:

105 – Learning – Long Distance Style

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:

104 – Glowing About The Bible

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:

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:

103 – Games With A Purpose

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:

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:

102 – Promises, Tools, and Bargains

This week on the WELSTech Podcast we take a final look at the concepts presented in the book Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky.

The discussion:

Expanding Your Life Scope – Martin and Sallie wrap up their discussion of Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody, looking at chapter 11 and the epilogue.  Tying all the concepts from the book together, three key components of digital groups emerge, and we see that these revolutionary changes should be accepted and taken for granted as we make use of them to spread the gospel message.

Ministry resources:

glo(22:44) BibleGlo.com – Multimedia Bible software

News in tech:

(26:28) Google Wave invites are trickling out.

  • Join the WELSTech public wave – search for this phrase …

with:public “Calling all WELSTech-ers!”

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

  • (36:30) Perry Lund from Grace in Oskaloosa, IA sent us a link to his catechism class timeline of Luther’s life.
  • David Schuman from Peace in Janesville, WI shared thoughts on the use of virtual meetings in congregations and further thoughts on raising congregational awareness of technology.
  • As a follow up to our new public Google Calendar with the Christian Worship and Christian Worship: Supplement lectionary, Mark Ochsankehl shared a sample site with Google Calendar instructions for members.

Coming up on WELSTech:

(42:26) Gail Potratz joins the WELSTech crew as we share our picks of safe web sites for kids of all ages. (Release date 10/28/09)

The featured artist:

(43:25) This week we close with the music of WELS instrumentalist In His Service – Gabriel’s Message from their CD titled ”In the Fullness of Time”

Get involved:

101 – Help! We are Wave-less!

This week on the WELSTech podcast we focus on the powerful Bible study software tool, Logos.

The interview:

Pastor Aaron Frey(3:15) Logos Revisited – WELS resident Logos guru, Pastor Aaron Frey from Emanuel in Tawas City, MI, rejoins Martin and Sallie to share the latest news on the software.  Pastor Frey was previously on Episode 007 of the podcast and has since seen amazing growth in the Logos For Lutherans (L4L) Yahoo group which he created and administers. Listen as he shares tips he’s learned along the way, stories from Camp Logos II and a look into the future of the software.

Ministry resources:

  • (30:50) ref.ly from Logos generates short URLs for Bible references
  • Logos Ref Tagger creates roll-over links to Bible passages on your web site

News in tech:

(33:33) Google Wave invites trickle down to the masses.  Do you have one?

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(54:42) Episode 102 – We wrap up our discussion of Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody – Chapter 11 – Promise, Tool, Bargain. (Release date 10/21/09)

The featured artist:

(56:40) We close the podcast with the music of Kevin Loersch – The Lord’s Prayer from his CD titled “Abide With Me”

Get involved:

100 – WELSTech Celebrates the Century Mark

This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie commemorate their 100th podcast with tech-in-ministry success stories from the listeners.

The discussion:

WELSTech BabyWELSTech and YOU! – The 100th WELSTech podcast anniversary is dedicated to the success stories WELSTech listeners have experienced using technology in their personal and public ministry.  Join Martin and Sallie as they share stories of audio and video editing, social networking, personal time management, Bible study, RSS reading, blogging, and more.

Coming up on WELSTech:

(39:50) Pastor Aaron Frey shares the latest news from Logos (Release date 10/14/09)

The featured artist:

(41:18) We close with music of WELS praise band Koine (www.koinemusic.com) – Jerusalem the Golden from their CD titled “Koine II”

Get involved: