Tag Archive for: education

365 – STEM on a Shoestring

/in ,

This week on WELSTech we’re happy to welcome back Martin to the podcast host chair and also welcome Jason Schmidt to our edtech focused discussion. Learn how to introduce STEM in your school, even without a high dollar investment and keep listening for the latest tech invite-only buzz.

The discussion:

rubiks cube 145x125Kids LOVE it! – The WELSTech virtual studio is bursting at the seams this week as we welcome back Martin and are also joined by Jason Schmidt, Technology Coordinator for Bennington ISD. The discussion topic is STEM, a popular acronym in education for the integrated study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with emphasis on creative problem solving. Often considered an expensive pond to dive into, there are many resources available to get started with a limited budget and students can’t get enough

Ministry resources:

  • Mobile friendly Luther’s Small Catechism

News in tech:

Tips & picks of the week:

WELS insider:

  • Hymnal Project Member Survey

Need to know:

  • Registration is open for FinalWeb online training, coming up January 21-23, 2015. bit.ly/fw4d2015
  • Visit the WELSTech Conference 2015 site to sign up for conference announcements via e-mail

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 366 – Tune in next for a discussion of pastor tech tools and the giveaway of HymnSoft Player 3.0. Carl Nolte from Northwestern Publishing House joins the conversation.  (Broadcast date – 11/04/14)

Featured videos:

This week we’ve added three STEM focused videos to the WELSTech Instruction YouTube channel –

STEM Education Overview

 

STEM Integration in K-12 Education

 

STEM Education – Developing 21st century problem solvers

 

Get involved:

344 – Resources and Reviews

/in ,

WELSTech is on the road, broadcasting from Kettle Moraine Lutheran High school with coverage of the Tech and Teach event held today. And we select winners of the shiny tech giveaways for Ministry Resources and Listener Reviews.

The interviews:

MandS200x140190 techie teachers – Martin and Sallie, along with Kurt Gosdeck from St. Lucas in Kewaskum, WI and Rachel Pierson from Trinity in Waukesha, WI, share their experiences at the Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School Tech and Teach event.

Ministry resources:

  • Lesley Bergemann shared instructions for using Vimeo Channel RSS
  • Pastor Steve Daley recommends BulletJournal.com
  • The winner of the Apple TV giveaway is … Brent Nemmers

Listener reviews:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 345 – The summer WELSTech Wiki reboot kicks off. (Broadcast date – 06/10/14)

Featured video:

From the WELS Schools Playlist, watch this overview of the new Performing Arts Center at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School, site of this week’s WELSTech recording.

 

Get involved:

334 – MinecraftEDU

/in ,

On this week’s episode, Sallie and Jason Schmidt hold down the WELSTech fort with a lively discussion of Minecraft gaming in the education setting. From self portraits to roller coasters to models of famous locations, the platform all but guarantees student engagement and collaboration.

The discussion:

Minecraft SelfieCreative Building – Jason Schmidt, Tech Coordinator for Bennington ISD and WELSTech’s semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, educates Sallie on the educational side of the popular video game Minecraft.

  • MinecraftEDU
  • Jason’s Badgercraft site

Tech tips:

  • Creating ideas for getting things into Evernote
  • MinecraftEDU Wiki

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

Registration is officially open for summer FinalWeb training with Martin and Sallie at the Center for Mission and Ministry. Learn more and sign up at bit.ly/fwtraininginfo.

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 335 – No fooling … Next week we’ll be talking about the recent Christ In Media Institute Mobile Phone Conference. (Broadcast date – 04/01/14)

Get involved:

330 – Earn Your Badge

/in ,

This week the WELSTech web site is all new, after a major upgrade and relocation, and the WELSTech goodness abounds. Guest host Gail Potratz, along with Tyler Shadick, bring us up to speed on the emerging trend of digital badges for assessment in education. We even dole out a few of the first-ever WELSTech badges. FinalWeb training registration is unveiled, plus much more.

The interview and discussion:

Tyler_Shadick145x125Endorse, Honor and Certify! – Badges in education are changing the way teachers assess and motivating students to achieve. Gail Potratz, WELSTech’s semi-regular classroom technology correspondent from Emanuel in New London, WI and Tyler Shadick, Online Learning Systems Analyst from Concordia University, Wisconsin, talk with Martin and Sallie about the reasons to consider badges as part of your assessment strategy and the tools to help you get started.

Credly-WELSTech-blank145x125Check out the new WELSTech Badges

  • Interviewee
  • Hall of Fame
  • Community Contributor

Tech tips:

  • Zooming in on Windows 8 using Magnifier – Windows Key plus + or – and Windows Kew Esc to close
  • Start early if you are Hanging Out on a schedule
  • Close All Tabs Chrome extension

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

Registration is officially open for summer FinalWeb training with Martin and Sallie at the Center for Mission and Ministry. Learn more and sign up at bit.ly/fwtraininginfo.

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 331 – Martin flies solo and shares secrets for building web apps. (Broadcast date – 03/04/14)

Music download:

This week only, download a free music single from WELS musician and staff minister Benhur Khamrang (Reverbnation) – Brothers, Sisters, Let Us Gladly

Get involved:

308 – Classroom Chrome

/in ,

This week’s WELSTech features our monthly education-focused discussion as we hear from guest host Gail Potratz about the joys and some challenges of administering and implementing Chromebooks. Gail has unique insight as she has entered her second year of administering Chromebooks on her campus.

The discussion:

A veteran with Chromebooks – Martin and Sallie welcome back our semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, Gail Potratz, from Emanuel in New London, WI, and she shares her experience with Google Chromebooks year-2 implementation. Listen for tricks that help teachers share documents with students and comment in-line on student’s work. Consistency is key!

Ministry Resources:

(25:22) Heritage and Hope: Celebrating 150 Years at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

Tech tips:

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

(45:45) Software Engineer/Programmer position at the Center for Mission and Ministry (CMM)

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(59:25) Episode 309 – Next week join Martin and Sallie as we tour the many features of the WELS Mobile App. (Release date – 10/01/13)

The featured artist:

(1:00:05) We close today’s WELSTech with the music of Joey Schumann and the Lutheran Ceili Orchestra (JoeySchumann.com | Joey on Facebook) – A Mighty Fortress

Get involved:

295 – I Came, I Saw, I Googled

/in ,

On this week’s WELSTech Podcast we wrap up our coverage of the recent Google Education Summit, sharing more discussion with conference attendees as well as some tips from the “rock star” presenters who graced the stage.

The discussion:

More Gooogling Out – Part 2 of Martin and Sallie’s coverage of Google Education Summit, recorded at Discovery World in Milwaukee, includes interviews with attendees and shout outs from conference presenters with some of their favorite tips. Also check out photos from the Summit posted in the WELSTech Flickr group pool.

  • (0:54) Rachel Pierson from Trinity in Waukesha, WI
  • (8:05) Pastor Dustin Yahnke from Faith in Sussex, WI
  • (17:54) Molly Schroeder (@followmolly) from Flipped Education shares some tricks for inserting images in Google Drive content
  • (19:19) Ben Friesen (@benjaminfriesen), Molly’s partner at Flipped Education, unveiled a new script, PageMeister, which turns Google Form data into auto-generated pages on a Google Site – perfect for busy teachers who want to create pages on their Site for each student!
  • (21:02) David Chan (@chanatown) who presented at the Summit on a variety of topics and can be found online at davidschan.com talks about the power of Google Groups for classroom communication
  • (22:23) Caleb Hundt (@hundtcaleb), half of The Ed Tech Gurus, shares the “Big 3” buttons you’ll want to know when editing Google Sites
  • (23:54) Nick Bakke (@bakke3129), the other half of The Ed Tech Gurus, talks about the many uses of blogs in the classroom

Coming up on WELSTech:

(24:48) Episode 296 – We are back in the “Church and School Website Content” summer series swing next week. Join Martin and Sallie for a discussion of the next chapter in our developing eBook on the About & What to Expect sections of your site. (Release date – 07/02/13)

Get involved:

290 – Summer Bucket Lists

/in ,

This week’s WELSTech Podcast has an education focus as Jason Schmidt joins Martin and Sallie to talk about a bucket full of summer tech learning opportunities, both online and face to face. Combine that with our picks of the week, event announcements and community feedback for a show you don’t want to miss!

The discussion:

Kick the bucket – Jason Schmidt from Bennington ISD near Omaha, NE guests hosts with Martin and Sallie this week, and the three of us reveal our bucket list of learning goals for the summer and beyond.

Picks of the week:

Calendar:

(28:28) WELSTech turns 300 in just 10 short episodes. Make plans to celebrate with us as we broadcast live from Synod Convention on July 30 at 8 p.m.!

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(38:46) Episode 291 – Prof. David Tess from Wisconsin Lutheran College joins Martin and Sallie to talk about what the Internet is doing to our brains. (Release date – 06/04/13)

The featured artist:

(39:30) We close the podcast with the instrumental music of In His Service (www.adagioconcepts.com) – O Lord, Send Forth Your Spirit

Get involved:

286 – Learning To Look Back

/in ,

On this edition of WELSTech, we take a look back at some tech achievements in the 2012-13 school year, and we learn about a new resource web site for Lutheran teachers and administrators. Listen for a special discount on the upcoming Google Education Summit and a recap of the recent crowd-writing event sponsored by the Christ In Media Institute.

The discussion:

Year End Assessment – Gail Potratz, one of our semi-regular classroom technology correspondents from Emanuel in New London, WI shares highlights of the 2012-13 school year in terms of tech accomplishments. It’s no surprise that she has good things to say about her Google Apps and Chromebooks pilot program that was implemented this year. She also shares a flipped classroom method using the Explain everything iPad app which she says has become the standard production method in her school.

  • Google Education Summit will take place June 16-21 at Wisconsin Lutheran College
    • Use promo code “WELSTech” and receive a $200 discount on your registration!

The interview:

(23:39) Lutheran Schools Resources – Director of Lutheran Schools, Greg Schmill, and teacher Matt Groth from St. Paul’s in Saginaw, MI debut the recently redesigned Lutheran Schools web site which is loaded with great resources to address all types of teacher and administrator needs. The site also supports the ability for users to share files with others, so look for the site to grow as more WELS teachers begin to use it and share their own resources.

  • Help us spread the word by sharing the link – connect.wels.net/lutheranschools

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

(52:47) Christ In Media Institute (CIMI) sponsored a crowd-writing event on April 29 to kick off the Bethany Lutheran College Media Week events. WELSTech friend, Jas Lonnquist, moderated the discussion. The Christian sci-fi premise was released in advance of the event and the discussion continues on the CIMI forums. You can still be part of the development of a future TV or Web broadcast.

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(1:01:22) Episode 287 – Confirmation season is upon us so our WELSTech discussion turns to keeping teens connected to God’s Word, including ways technology can help. Staff minister Brandon Steenbock joins Martin and Sallie to share his experience. (Release date – 05/07/13)

The featured artist:

(1:02:10) We close the podcast with the music of Stephen Bautista (www.stephenbautistamusic.com or stephenbautista on Twitter) – Flowers Are Dancing

Get involved:

281 – Classroom Video

/in ,

This week on WELSTech we welcome one of our semi-regular classroom technology correspondents, Jason Schmidt, and we share video resources for the classroom. There’s also a special announcement about an upcoming event which you won’t want to miss!

The discussion:

Video in K-12 – Martin and Sallie, along with guest host Jason Schmidt from Bennington ISD near Omaha, NE, talk about the many video resources for K-12 education available on the web, including several that are part of WELS Lutheran Schools annual subscription option.

Picks of the week:

Of interest:

  • (35:20) You are invited to be part of the first ever WELSTech Camp coming up September 14 at Martin Luther College

Community feedback:

  • (38:05) Edcanvas
  • Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music
  • The first #WELSed Twitter chat is history and the next is set for April 4 at 8:00 PM
  • Paramentics
  • Cotton Candy, the Dual-Core Android USB Drive

Coming up on WELSTech:

(46:23) Episode 282 – Tune in next week for our interview with designer Corissa Nelson and a discussion of mobile photography. (Release date – 04/02/13)

The featured artist:

(47:20) We close the podcast with the music of Corban Creek – Empty Grave

Get involved:

277 – You’re Gonna Flip!

/in ,

This week we turn WELSTech upside down as we discuss the growing “flipped classroom” trend with our semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, Gail Potratz.

The discussion:

Flipped Classrooms – The idea of providing instructional resources for students to consume at their own pace outside of the classroom and then dedicating classroom time to exploration and individual assistance on a topic is the concept behind “flipping” your classroom. Gail Potratz, Technology Coordinator at Emanuel in New London, WI, joins Martin and Sallie to discuss the basics for flipping lessons, tools to use and some early feedback on outcomes of this technique.

Ministry resources:

(23:47) WordPress for Classrooms

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

(44:05) Episode 278 – Pastor Rob Guenther will join Martin and Sallie from Kenai, AK next week and share his tech-in-ministry success stories including his recent self-publishing efforts. (Release date – 03/05/13)

The featured artist:

(44:22) Another new WELS recording artist joins the WELSTech lineup today as we share the music of Michael Armstrong (pinemountainmusic.com) – Overwhelmed

Get involved: