WELSTech Video

What if your AI assistant already knew your school handbook, your church’s mission statement, your newsletter archives — and you never had to explain any of it again? That’s the promise of AI workspaces, and in this episode Martin and Sallie break down how to put them to work in a ministry setting.

AI workspaces – Gone are the days when you have to start every AI prompt with a lengthy list of background information to ensure proper context in your results. Martin and Sallie compare four AI companions and consider uses in ministry settings.

WELSTech AI resources – welstech.wels.net/ai

Tune in to this episode of WELSTech for a lively discussion on right-sizing technology for the classroom. Our friends Jason and Rachel are back with a rubric utility, Adobe free education resources, and a sprinkling of AI as well. You’ll be shouting “BINGO!” before you know it!

Has education gone too far with technology?  Martin and Sallie are joined by Dr. Rachel Renno from Martin Luther College and Jason Schmidt from Oshkosh ISD to discuss the growing backlash against over-digitization in classrooms. Drawing on Jared Cooney Horvath’s The Digital Delusion, we explore how COVID accelerated tech adoption and why some are now calling for a return to fundamentals.

National Teen Bible Study – Sunday, March 29 at 6:00 pm Central

Welcome back to WELSTech, a conversation at the intersection of ministry and technology for over 18 years! Today we look at the newly released Artificial Intelligence Ethical Framework and Risk Matrix. Martin has a free diagramming tool while Sallie shares an affordable new Apple laptop. Plus the community feedback segment includes news of Gen Z returning to religion.

AI Support – Martin shares a preliminary look at the latest releases from WELS AI Task Force – the AI Ethical Framework (PDF | Google Docs) and AI Risk Matrix (PDF | Google Docs) documents. Find these resources and more on the WELSTech AI page – welstech.wels.net/ai.

Tune in for a timely edtech discussion with Rachel Renno and Jason Schmidt

It’s time for WELSTech 770, your bi-weekly dive into ministry and technology topics of the day. And today the conversation centers around tech to assist with managing a strategic plan. Also in this episode, learn more about the upcoming Taste of Missions event and a helpful new iOS app. Plus, get the “skinny” on Sallie’s hardware pick of the week.

Working the Plan – Explore how Trello supports managing and communicating progress on a strategic plan. Martin shares WELS strategic plan in Trello, showing how color‑coded cards and cross‑linked resource boards enable clear, visual tracking of key objectives.

Taste of Missions – June 13 at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

Ryan Kirchoff’s latest blog post at Blueprint Schools is a great follow up to our recent interview

Hear an update from WELS AI Task Force regarding their work on an AI Ethical Framework and Risk Matrix

This episode of WELSTech features an interview with Ryan Kirchoff where he shares an overview of his recent Leadership Conference presentation on our favorite topic – Artificial Intelligence. Are You an Influencer is the topic of an upcoming webinar. Sallie has a new favorite song, and Martin has a new favorite gadget. Which one will be your favorite?

Assist versus lead – Instructional coordinator and consultant Ryan Kirchoff shares highlights from his recent WELS Leadership Conference session on AI and the Church (presentation resource). Since late-2022 when AI was first shared, Ryan’s work at Fox Valley Lutheran High School and with Blueprint-Schools.com has taken on an element of educating others about what and how AI can serve ministry.

Managing a strategic plan with Trello

Tune into this episode of WELSTech for a master class in herding cats as we navigate a lively discussion of the MLC degree and certificate offerings for technology directors. There’s also a broad range of picks of the week, Martin’s Screens and Souls presentation from Leadership Conference, and some free Google training to discuss.

Technology director – Martin and Sallie welcome our semi-regular edtech co-hosts, Dr. Rachel Feld and Jason Schmidt, along with yet another friend in the ed tech space, Dr. Bob Martens, Martin Luther College (MLC) Director of Information Technology. The discussion centers on the MLC Technology Director graduate degree program (a 30 credit MS Education Administration program) as well as two new certifications also offered by MLC in Education Technology Leadership and Technology Integration, each requiring 9 credits.

Summed up as learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, the three share how the program teaches edtech leadership skills needed to manage the many facets of the ever-changing edtech learning environment.

Take a look back at 2025 with Martin and Sallie as they share highlights, memories, and favorites from year 18 of the WELSTech Podcast.

Year 19 of WELSTech is ahead of us. What will it hold for tech-in-ministry?

A new curriculum in development – Melanie Giddings, Curriculum Coordinator from WELS Lutheran Schools, joins Martin and Sallie to share an inside look at the work being shared by many hands on a new Pre-K to 12 religion curriculum being developed to succeed Christ Light.

There’s still time to submit your AI-generated Christmas coloring page for inclusion in a WELSTech crowd-sourced coloring book. Send your entries to [email protected], and we’ll choose a random contributor to receive some sweet WELS swag!

Try this prompt:

A black and white coloring page for kids of [YOUR TOPIC], thick lines, white background, no shading, no grey scale, simple vector style.

Join us in January for our look back at WELSTech 2025!

‘Tis the WELSTech Christmas season! Join us for a giveaway announcement that involves the good news of Christmas, coloring books, and AI. You could win a fun WELS item while you exercise your AI skills. Christmas concerts, anniversary offerings, travel apps, managing your smart home, and free EDU GPT round out this episode. Let’s goooo!

Celebrating in color – Martin and Sallie are collocated, Christmas-color coordinated, and collaborating on a coloring project. Everyone is invited to participate in an AI experiment, creating Christmas-related coloring pages which we’ll compile into a sharable book. Send your entries to [email protected], and we’ll choose a random contributor to receive some sweet WELS swag!

Try this prompt:

A black and white coloring page for kids of [YOUR TOPIC], thick lines, white background, no shading, no grey scale, simple vector style.

Chat GPT is free for teachers until June 2027

Melanie Giddings, Curriculum Coordinator from the Lutheran Schools office, shares details on this important work.

This week on WELSTech we take a deep dive into Google’s NotebookLM. Discover how this AI tool uses only your uploaded documents to create everything from video and audio overviews, flashcards, and summary documents, plus learn about other innovative AI tools like Hume Voice AI and the Plaud audio recorder that are changing the way we work and communicate.

I wonder …. – Martin and Sallie are joined by Dr. Rachel Renno, Director of Academic Computing for Martin Luther College, and Jason Schmidt, Director of Technology for Oshkosh (WI) Area School District to discuss Google’s NotebookLM and how it leverages AI only on the documents you upload. Use NotebookLM to generate video and audio overviews of your content as well as summary documents, flashcards, and quizzes. Plus, it integrates easily into Google Classroom!

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