Tag Archive for: education

Teaching Digital Citizenship

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Google recently announced a free online resource geared toward middle- to upper-elementary aged children called Be Internet Awesome. The online game, Interland, as well as supporting curriculum resources, are intended to teach kids to be smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave online.

To make the most of the Internet, kids need to be prepared to make smart decisions. Be Internet Awesome teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence.

Application/audience

The resources available on the Be Internet Awesome are suitable for use in both the elementary classroom as well as at home. Teachers may want to spend some of their summer prep time reviewing the Be Internet Awesome Curriculum which has been given the ISTE Seal of Alignment. The materials center around five fundamental topics:

  • Share with Care (Be Internet Smart)
  • Don’t Fall for Fake (Be Internet Alert)
  • Secure Your Secrets (Be Internet Strong)
  • It’s Cool to Be Kind (Be Internet Kind)
  • When in Doubt, Talk It Out (Be Internet Brave)

Additional resources for schools allow easy integration of Interland on school Chromebooks as well as in Google Classroom. There are posters and certificates and badges available as well.

Parents may want to download the Be Internet Awesome Pledge and make a family commitment to practicing safe digital citizenship.

Related resources

Check out these short video introductions to Be Internet Awesome and Interlands.

Overview

Interland Tour

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Common Sense Media

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In today’s digital age, guiding children’s use of the many flavors of media available to them can be a daunting task. Not only are there challenges knowing enough about the many apps, websites, movies, and books, but it can sometimes be a pretty large hurdle to simply find appropriate media to consider.

CommonSenseMedia.org can help. The first few sentences of the mission of Common Sense Media give site visitors an idea of what to expect on the site.

Common Sense is the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. We empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.

Application/audience

As the mission statement suggests, Common Sense Media is great for parents and teachers. In church and school settings, it would certainly be appropriate to share the site with anyone who has responsibilities involving children up to age 18. This includes Lutheran school teachers, but also may be helpful for those who lead after school care and Sunday school. The digital citizenship curriculum available from the site can be adopted by schools and has units for use in grades K-12.

Church and school communication can be used to encourage parents to explore the resources available on the site. For example, consider newsletter or bulletin blurbs pointing to Common Sense Media when movies of interest are released, reminding parents to consider the age recommendations and areas of concern identified in the posted movie review.

Watch this brief video tour of CommonSenseMedia.org to learn more about the resources available on the site.

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Free Bible Images

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Teachers of all flavors recognize the importance of having just the right image to support the lesson they are preparing. And the fact that cameras are a rather recent invention in relation to the full historic timeline limits the ability to do a quick Internet search and find the perfect photo for every lesson. This is especially true when it comes to images from Bible times, and it makes FreeBibleImages.org a highly recommended ministry resource.

Application/audience

The site name is self-explanatory. It exists to share all types of images of the Bible for my favorite price … FREE!! The image sets have a variety of copyrights associated with them, from public domain to creative commons by attribution and non-commercial to copyright retained and only accessible for education purposes, so read carefully and take steps to comply. It’s well worth the effort as most are provided in two aspect ratios – 4:3 and 16:9 – and in Powerpoint, Keynote, PDF and JPG formats. Something to fit all those flavors of teachers mentioned earlier!

I prepared a quick overview video to orient you to the site offerings. I’d welcome comments on how you use Free Bible Images in your ministry setting!

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Jeopardy for Church and School

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Teachers are always looking for positive ways to engage their students in the learning process. In addition, team game play can be a great fellowship activity for any group – all church events, teens, etc. At JeopardyLabs.com, users can create free Jeopardy games using their own question banks. The games are accessible from any device, including tablets and smartphones.

Application/audience

JeopardyLab games can be created for all types of Q&A sessions including review of catechism lessons, Sunday school materials or any school subject. It is also appropriate for a fun team game at church fellowship events. Check out these samples:

Related resources

Another option for creating Jeopardy games is with a PowerPoint or Google Slides template.

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478 – 2017: Focus on Ministry Resources

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WELSTech starts the new year with a resolution — more and better ministry resources! We kick of the new year with a Bible reading plan and morning routine resources. Join us for 2017 as we find intersections between technology and ministry.

The discussion:

WELSTechversary – Martin and Sallie discuss the milestone 9th anniversary of the weekly WELSTech podcast and share plans for in-depth Ministry Resource posts in 2017.

The interview:

Sphero, my hero – Mark Meyer, Technology Director at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School in Greenvile, WI, shares his experience introducing coding at the grade school level using Code.org and Sphero, a small robot which lets students have a ball!

WELS now:

New Interactive Faith webcasts start February 1 at 6 pm and 8 pm CST

  • Led by Rev. Randy Hunter from St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Madison, WI
  • A study on enriching marriages. Couples will have the opportunity to build their marriage on the gospel of Jesus through the study entitled “Mysterious Marriage.” This study will examine how the gospel gives you the power to be married and how marriage gives you a way to show the gospel.

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Featured video:

Watch Immanuel is a Thankful Church!, shared by Mark Meyer and the newest addition to the WELSTech “Likes” list on Vimeo.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 479 – Martin and Sallie take a deep dive into using YouTube for ministry. Release date: Wednesday, December 11.

Get involved:

473 – Makerspaces

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This week on WELSTech, our inner-nerdiness comes out as Rachel Feld joins the edtech conversation for a look at the popular trend, Makerspaces. Martin shares info on several affordable options in the Internet of Things realm, there’s WELS music for the Christmas season available, as well as a special Pinterest board full of ideas for Advent.

The discussion:

Design, create, iterate – It’s education week on WELSTech! Martin and Sallie are joined by Rachel Feld, 1st and 2nd grade teacher from Bethany in Kenosha, WI, and the topic du jour is Makerspaces. The New Media Consortium Horizon Report 2016 K-12 Edition (p. 36-37) identified Makerspaces as an important development in K-12 education technology. Find out why and hear ideas about adding a makerspace to your school.

News in tech:

Google Home

WELS now:

WELS Seasonal Radio

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Check out Rachel’s Advent board on Pinterest

Featured video:

The newest addition on the WELSTech Presentation/Teaching YouTube playlist is Get Going with Your School Maker Faire.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 474 – Prof. Bill Pekrul, Director of Public Relations at Martin Luther College, joins Martin and Sallie to talk about church and school promotion. Release date: Wednesday, December 7.

Image information:

The feature image used on this post is courtesy of Flickr user 5chw4r7z and is licensed for reuse and modification under Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0. We modified the image by cropping to our standard feature image size.

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464 – Rachel to the Rescue

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This week on WELSTech, Martin is joined by teacher Rachel Feld, who makes her debut as WELSTech’s newest guest host. They talk edtech, particularly in the Apple space, and share news of Yahoo’s recent security breach, plus picks and a Reformation resource sure to thrill elementary educators.

The discussion:

Goodbye and hello – After 8 years of guest hosting on WELSTech, Gail Potratz, Technology Director at Emanuel in New London, WI, has laid down her microphone to make room for others. Fortunately for our WELSTech community, Martin, and Sallie, we have a new “semi-regular classroom technology correspondent” to introduce, Rachel Feld, 1st and 2nd grade teacher from Bethany in Kenosha, WI. This week we get to know Rachel and learn more about iPads in her classroom.

News in tech:

What Consumers Need to Know About Yahoo Security Breach

WELS now:

Martin Luther College Speaker’s Bureau

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Reformation Flannelgraph

Featured video:

Brand new on the WELSTech Product Demo YouTube playlist is the Bloomz Overview video.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 465 – Join Martin and Sallie for a discussion on privacy. Release date: Wednesday, October 5.

Get involved:

446 – Rainy Days with the SRCTC

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Tune in to WELSTech this week for edtech sunshine in the form of SRCTC Jason Schmidt. The discussion topic covers a variety of outdoor and rainy day tech ideas for educators including geocaching, astronomy and coding. This show also includes excited news for Chromebook users, summer training opportunities and a site for purchasing low-priced smartphones and tablets.

The discussion:

Rainy dayEeekk, a rat! – Martin and Sallie are joined by WELSTech’s SRCTC (Semi-Regular Classroom Technology Correspondent) Jason Schmidt, Tech Coordinator in the Bennington Public School District in the Omaha, NE area, for a discussion of outdoor and rainy day tech projects for the classroom.

News in tech:

Android apps, coming to a Chromebook near you

WELS now:

Picks of the week:

Featured video:

Enjoy this fun MLC Day video from Lakeside Lutheran High School, a new addition to the WELSTech Promo playlist.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 447 – Martin and Sallie broadcast from the CMM with a preview of several upcoming summer series. Release date: Wednesday, June 1

Get involved:

438 – Robotics in Education

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This week on WELSTech Martin is away, but the show must go on! Sallie and guest host Jason Schmidt discuss robotics in education. The show also includes news of Latin American mission tech-enhanced outreach, a review of the best smartphone, and audio books for your listening pleasure.

The discussion:

First TeamStorming the castle – Sallie is joined by guest host Jason Schmidt, Tech Coordinator in the Bennington Public School District in the Omaha, NE area and the edtech discussion centers on a popular STEM topic, robotics. Jason recently returned from the Iowa Regional FIRST Robotics Competition (Team 5906), one of many regional high school robotics competitions sponsored by FIRST.

News in tech:

Samsung Galaxy S7 named top smartphone by Consumer Reports

WELS now:

Gospel Outreach With Media online conference

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Watch the March 2016 Update from WELSTech friend, Missionary Mike Hartman, regarding online outreach efforts via Academia Cristo.

Featured video:

Learn more about FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in this new WELSTech Promo playlist video.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 439 – Always in need of tweaking, tune in for tips to sharpen your personal productivity skills. Release date: Wednesday, April 6

Get involved:

430 – eRate, Grants, and Freebies

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The snow is flying sideways, but WELSTech is on the air! Jason Schmidt brings his brand of sunshine to enlighten listeners on financial options for implementing technology in schools. This episode also includes info on a safer internet, an upcoming online conference, and free Bible maps.

The discussion:

We deliverWe deliver despite the blizzard – Jason Schmidt from Bennington Public Schools joins Martin and Sallie to share a variety of methods to assist schools with funding educational technology.

News in tech:

WELS now:

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Free Bible Images has free Bible maps

Featured video:

Check out Lucidpress in 60 seconds on the WELSTech Product Demo YouTube Playlist.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 431 – WELSTech hosts, Martin and Sallie, reveal the tech that makes them tick. Release date: Wednesday, February 10

Get involved: