Check your watch because it’s time again for WELSTech. This week the topic is the changing face of education technology, and guest host Gail Potratz is back to share news from her new school year. The show also includes a timely discussion of Martin’s new phone and exciting updates to Google Forms.

Welcome back – Gail Potratz, Tech Director at Emanuel in New London, WI and one of WELSTech’s semi-regular classroom technology correspondents (SRCTC), is back to share her edtech knowledge with Martin, Sallie and the WELSTech community. Find out what’s in, what’s out and what edtech is not so scary this school year in Gail’s world.

Episode 362 – Martin and Sallie begin the review of our 5 minute Pastor’s Tech Survey (bit.ly/pastorstechsurvey). Submit your favorite tech by Saturday, October 4, and you could win a copy of HymnSoft Player 3.0 (a $249.99 value) courtesy of Northwestern Publishing House. (Broadcast date – 10/07/14)

This week’s featured video was added to both out Instructional and Product Demos YouTube playlists. Enjoy friEdTechnology’s Getting Started With Google Classroom

Are the days of paper and pencil note taking over? On WELSTech this week we talk about a plethora of digital note taking options. Plus we share the inside scoop on the ShopWELS Insider newsletter and a recommended Greek and Hebrew flashcard app. We cap off the show with not one, but three featured videos.

Take Note – Martin and Sallie review the advantages of using digital tools to store and organize notes and project “commodities” in one place including search-ability, collaboration and one-stop cloud storage.

Episode 361 – Martin and Sallie welcome Gail Potratz back to the edtech guest host chair and catch up the technology in her new school year. (Broadcast date – 09/30/14)

To complement the digital note taking discussion, we’ve added not one but THREE featured videos to the  WELSTech’s Product Demos YouTube playlist –

Google Keep

Evernote 6 for Android

OneNote for iOS 8

The WELSTech spotlight shines on social media for ministry as Martin and Sallie (mostly) agree on recommended platforms and talk with blogger Lauren Hunter about a free social media for churches ebook series. Plus Sallie shares a new resource for teaching students to program – starting in Kindergarten!

Where things stand – We’ve likely moved beyond the point of calling church and school usage of social media “new territory,” but it is still unfamiliar and at times uncomfortable for many. Martin and Sallie share their thoughts on the best social channels for outreach, inreach and professional development.

Don’t miss a discussion so exciting it was tweet worthy …

Just recorded @welstech on social media and the church with my podcasting partner @mspriggs and couldn’t wait to tweet about it!

— Sallie Draper (@salliedraper) September 16, 2014

A fresh tech-in-ministry voice – Interviews are back on WELSTech! Martin and Sallie chat with Lauren Hunter, founder and lead blogger at ChurchTechToday.com. Listen as she talks about highlights of the 7-year history of the site, tips on church use of social media and predictions of the next big technology tool for ministry.

Episode 360 – Take note, next week WELSTech will broadcast live on MONDAY, September 22 at 4 pm – welstechlive.wels.net. Martin and Sallie share the scoop on digital note-taking tools. (Broadcast date – 09/22/14)

There’s a new entry on WELSTech’s Music YouTube playlist, David Wesley’s In Christ Alone  –

Join us for a special season kick off episode as we debut a new book discussion and celebrate the return of some of our favorite segments including News In Tech and Ministry Resources. We share “WELS Insider” information and a great document detailing prospect management techniques using Google Sheets. Plus you won’t want to miss our first Vimeo “Like”!

A new book discussion – The WELSTech tradition is to select a book for discussion throughout the school year season and today’s discussion kicks off the new productivity book selection, What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman. Martin and Sallie dive into the book introduction and talk about what’s different about a Gospel motivated productivity system.

Episode 359 – Next week WELStech-ers can look forward to the return of the interview as Martin and Sallie chat with Lauren Hunter from ChurchTechToday.com about the state of social media. (Broadcast date – 09/16/14)

WELSTech now has a “Like’s” list on Vimeo and the first entry is a video of the Martin Luther College Choir’s April performance of I Will Rise –

The WELSTech Wiki Migration is all wrapped up with a bow on top this week as we conclude our summer series with a look at the “School” section of the wiki. This show also includes lots of tips, picks and community feedback plus some bonus WELSTech goodness you’ll want to hang on for till the very end!

Finish Line – The summer WELSTEch Wiki Migration efforts draw to a close today as Martin and Sallie review the School section of the WELSTech Wiki, focusing on education apps and learning management systems. Request an account and add your favorite edtech resources.

Did you know … Presenters at WELSTech Conference 2015 (wels.net/welstechconf), July 9-11, 2015 at Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center in Pewaukee, WI attend for FREE?!! We’re currently looking for presenters and tech topics of interest for our breakout sessions. Give it some thought and submit your ideas!

Episode 358 – WELSTech gets back to normal as we kick off our newest season and introduce a new book selection, What’s Best Next? by Matt Perman. (Broadcast date – 09/09/14)

The WELS Artist YouTube playlist has a new entry, Jason Jaspersen’s sand art drawing of Jonah –

WELSTech is back with the continuation of the summer WELSTech Wiki migration series. Listen for examples of policies for church and school, helpful mobile apps, and Martin’s how-to on Facebook, of all places.

No Pillows Allowed – Planning and policy may not be the most exciting topics, but you won’t want to sleep through Martin and Sallie’s discussion of the various WELSTech Wiki Planning and Policy resources including …

Did you know … Presenters at WELSTech Conference 2015 (wels.net/welstechconf), July 9-11, 2015 at Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center in Pewaukee, WI attend for FREE?!! We’re currently looking for presenters and tech topics of interest for our breakout sessions. Give it some thought and submit your ideas!

Episode 357 – We wrap up the WELSTech Wiki migration summer series and put a big bow on top next week with the discussion of school technology. (Broadcast date – 09/02/14)

In honor of the new school year we share an addition to the WELSTech Presentation/Teaching YouTube playlist, Kid President’s Pep Talk toTeachers and Students!

This week’s WELSTech topic, electronic giving, is a popular one as more congregations and schools consider this giving option for members. Besides the main event, there’s news and links of all flavors including Gmail tips, photo sharing platforms, free educator accounts, Android apps and the “Teacher Chart of Doom.”

Office Resources II – Martin and Sallie wrap up review of the WELSTech Wiki Office resources with a look at the topics of productivity, hardware and software. Lastly they spend some time discussing a variety of methods and examples of electronic giving, from online giving to text-to-give to mobile giving to card reading equipment. Please request a wiki account and add your experience!

Did you know … Presenters at WELSTech Conference 2015 (wels.net/welstechconf), July 9-11, 2015 at Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center in Pewaukee, WI attend for FREE?!! We’re currently looking for presenters and tech topics of interest for our breakout sessions. Give it some thought and submit your ideas!

Episode 355 – On next week’s WELSTech we do a bit of housekeeping as we focus on the always important planning and policies resources for churches and school. (Broadcast date – 08/26/14)

This week we have an addition to the WELSTech Presentation/Teaching YouTube playlist from this summer’s WELS International Youth Rally, Rev. Jon Enter’s Keynote Presentation.

Join WELSTech this week for a conversation about data management software for the church and school office. Martin shares his experience with remote control software, and listeners share comments and questions.

Managing Church and School Data – In the dog days of Summer 2014, the WELSTech Wiki Migration series continues as Martin and Sallie discuss church, school and childcare management software.

Did you know … Presenters at WELSTech Conference 2015 (wels.net/welstechconf), July 9-11, 2015 at Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center in Pewaukee, WI attend for FREE?!! We’re currently looking for presenters and tech topics of interest for our breakout sessions. Give it some thought and submit your ideas!

Episode 355 – We continue our tour of the church and school office with a look at hardware and software, productivity techniques and electronic giving on our next summer wiki migration special episode. (Broadcast date – 08/19/14)

This week we introduce the new WELSTech Product Demos YouTube playlist, and we’re seeding it with not one, but two, useful demo videos:

WELSTech is back to “normal” this week with Martin and Sallie in their normal locations after many vacation and training travels.  And the WELSTech Wiki migration continues, this week with a look at streaming and podcasting resources. Find out why Sallie is grinning big monkey grins AND pinning away!

Broadcasting 101 – Martin and Sallie complete work on the infrastructure category on the WELSTech Wiki with a discussion of the nuts and bolts of podcasting and live streaming. Learn more and share your experience with these important communication channels.

Did you know … Presenters at WELSTech Conference 2015 (wels.net/welstechconf), July 9-11, 2015 at Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center in Pewaukee, WI attend for FREE?!! We’re currently looking for presenters and tech topics of interest for our breakout sessions. Give it some thought and submit your ideas!

Episode 354 – Our focus shifts to the church and school office next week as we migrate the WELSTech Wiki content on the topics of childcare management and church management software. (Broadcast date – 08/12/14)

This week we’ve added to the WELSTech Instructional YouTube playlist with one episode of the Broadcast Now video podcast, Communicating While Broadcasting. The podcast was recommended by listener Jason Winget, and you can check out the Broadcast Now playlist to access past episodes.

On this week’s WELSTech the discussion is on networking in churches and schools. Martin shares YouVersion Bible reading plans with devotions from Pastor Mark Jeske at Time of Grace, and the featured video is a “must see” from last week’s National Worship Conference.

Making connections – The WELSTech solo podcasting stint is over as Martin and Sallie return with a face-to-face dialog on today’s WELSTech Wiki migration topic, network infrastructure. Request a wiki account and add your church or school network specs!

Did you know … Presenters at WELSTech Conference 2015 (wels.net/welstechconf), July 9-11, 2015 at Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center in Pewaukee, WI attend for FREE?!! We’re currently looking for presenters and tech topics of interest for our breakout sessions. Give it some thought and submit your ideas!

Episode 353 – The WELSTech Wiki migration marches on with the discussion of streaming and recording video. (Broadcast date – 08/05/14)

This week we have a special addition to the WELSTech Music YouTube playlist, from the closing service of the WELS National Worship Conference last Friday – Jerusalem the Golden, arranged by Dale Witte