Tag Archive for: maker

490 – Scrambled Eggs with a Side of Equity

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The week’s edtech focused WELSTech episode features ideas for assisting students with broadband Internet access in their homes, the opportunity to host a movie theater screening of the new Luther movie, a new computer science curriculum for middle schoolers, a design tool for the church and school office, and some tasty(?) robotics.

The discussion:

Jason Schmidt, Technology Coordinator for Bennington Public Schools near Omaha, NE and one of WELSTech’s Semi-Regular Classroom Technology Correspondents, is just back from a exciting weekend of First Steamworks competition from First Robotics. Check out The Blue Alliance for live streamed competition videos.

Broadband equity for students – While Martin enjoys a little family time, Jason and Sallie discuss the topic of digital equity. Students inability to access the Internet via a broadband connection in their home environment can be caused by economic factors as well as lack of coverage in rural location. This inequity has been identified as a difficult challenge impeding technology adoption for K-12 students in the New Media Consortium K-12 Horizon Report 2016. We take a look at programs to assist with meeting this challenge.

  • EveryoneOn.org – Low Cost Internet | Digital Literacy
  • The 1 million project from Sprint

WELS now:

Learn how your congregation can host a movie theater screening of the new Martin Luther movie, A Return To Grace.

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Featured video:

Promevo TV featured this Head to Head: Asus C302 vs. Samsung Chromebook Plus. Who wins!? video review, a new addition to the WELSTech Product Demo YouTube playlist.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 491 – Pastor Stephen Daly shares his experience with the Bullet Journal, the analog system for the digital age. Release date: Wednesday, April 5.

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482 – Wearable Tech

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This week on WELSTech we talk about the future of wearable technology in education. It’s not quite ready but it’s coming! Listen also for news from Google Voice, a new edtech evaluation tool for schools, and WELSTech’s own Alex Trebek.

The discussion:

Sew in a circuit board – Jason Schmidt, Technology Coordinator for Bennington ISD near Omaha, NE and one of WELSTech’s Classroom Technology Correspondents, chimes in on the topic of wearable tech which has been identified as having mainstream K-12 educational adoption in the next 4-5 years in the New Media Consortium K-12 Horizon Report 2016.

News in tech:

The new Google Voice launches bringing a modern look, group chat, photo sharing & more

Picks of the week:

Ministry resources:

Featured video:

Learn more about wearable technology in this TEDxSFU video, How wearable technology will change our lives, on the WELSTech Presentation/Teaching YouTube playlist.

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 483 – Amber Rose joins Martin and Sallie to share some about “Chatter That Matters” from the Holy Hen House. Release date: Wednesday, November 2.

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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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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

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