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This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie countdown their best and worst picks of 2008.

Listen now or download Episode 052 (50:02)

The discussion:

• Best and worst of 2008 (4:15) - Throughout 2008, the Picks of the Week segment of the WELSTech podcast has emerged as a listener favorite.  Martin and Sallie revisit their compiled list of picks from throughout the year and share their top three and bottom three picks, along with a few honorable mentions.
  • The Worst
    • Google Desktop – desktop.google.com
    • Stumble Upon – www.stumbleupon.com
    • Select parts of web page(s) for printing – PrintWhatYouLike.com
    • Jott – www.jott.com
    • Dvorak keyboard – www.dvzine.org
    • Belkin WiFi Phone
  • The Best
    • Google Calendar – calendar.google.com
    • Delicious – del.icio.us
    • Scratch – scratch.mit.edu
    • OpenDNS – www.opendns.com
    • Snagit – www.techsmith.com
    • Password Safe – passwordsafe.sourceforge.net

The tidbits:

• Coming up on WELSTech (44:45)
  • Episode 053 - We celebrate the one year anniversary of the WELSTech podcast with a look back at our first show and a look ahead at our expectations for 2009

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, Michael Schroeder (michaelschroeder.com) - The Reason For the Season from his CD with the same title, The Reason For the Season (45:50)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

This week on WELSTech synod President Mark Schroeder joins Martin and Sallie to discuss the synod and its use of technology to further the gospel message.

Listen now or download Episode 051 (29:56)

The interview:

• A conversation with the President (2:25) - In a special Christmas Eve interview, WELS President Mark Schroeder talks with Martin and Sallie about what he’s learned in the year and a half since he became president, how technology is assisting with the work of the synod, and how he sees it being used in the future.

The tidbits:

• Coming up on WELSTech (25:30)
  • Episode 052 - Tune in for our 2008 countdown of best and worst picks of the year

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS pianist, Dawn Gehlhar - Silent Night from her CD titled Christmas Dreams (26:40)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie look at the ease of group formation in a Web 2.0 world as they continue their discussion of Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody.  They also clean out the WELSTech mail bag.

Listen now or download Episode 050 (1:01:20)

The discussion:

• Group formation is simple - Martin and Sallie dive into the second chapter of Here Comes Everybody – The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky and discuss the ease of group formation and the impact these social groups will have on the church. They include comments from “digital native” and one of tomorrow’s leaders, Philip Wels, a senior communications major from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN.

The tidbits:

• Community feedback – Cleaning out the WELSTech mail bag!(31:00)
  • Call for a web developer posted on the WELSTech facebook group by Carol Restovic
  • Following up on the Content Management System discussion in Episode 047, John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI shared links to tools to enhance blogging with WordPress and TypePad
    • Write blog posts from your desktop with wbloggar.com
    • Anti-SPAM plugins for TypePad
  • Following up on Episode 045, George Efsen asked how to find the interview segment about Search Engine Optimization.  Time markers for all WELSTech episodes are included in the show notes.
  • David Savatski recommended box.net for online storage and group collaboration
  • John Shoosmith of Redeemer in Yakima, WA shared several comments
    • Sample closed-caption sermon created with Microsoft Silverlight
    • Suggestion for a WELSTech directory of listeners with techie knowledge and skills which they are willing to share
    • Questions about copyright of Luther’s works and the Bible
  • Alyssa Dunning shared a link to digsby.com – useful for aggregating your web presence including instant messaging, e-mail and social networks
  • Closing the loop on a question we received in Episode 033 from Pastor John Maasch of Peace in Bradenton, FL – WELS Worship has published the current lectionary series in “ical” format for importing into your calendaring software – in the “Lectionary Planning” folder
  • Our occasional guest host, Gail Potratz, from Emanuel in New London, WI shared a link to David Warlick’s School Acceptable Use Policy wiki
  • Richard Travis from Divine Peace in Garland, TX is using FlashPoint to convert PowerPoint files to Flash format for their church web site
• Coming up on WELSTech (56:01)
  • Episode 051 - A special treat for Christmas Eve – We’ll talk with WELS President Mark Schroeder
• WELS.net feature (57:15)
  • Tune in to Streams Live for a Michael Schroeder Christmas concert
    • December 20 @ 5 p.m. CST from Christ Lutheran in Pewaukee, WI
    • Sponsored by WELS Military Services

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS artist, Michael Schroeder (michaelschroeder.com) - What Child Is This from his CD titled The Reason For the Season (57:48)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie take a look at chapter one of Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody.  Ray Brown joins the conversation to share how he uses video e-mail for outreach and congregational communication.

Listen now or download Episode 049 (1:01:18)

The discussion:

• Harnessing the power of groups - Martin and Sallie kick off a discussion of the book Here Comes Everybody – The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky with a look at the concepts presented in the first chapter. The author uses a true story of a ”one-person media outlet” to illustrate how easily groups can form on the Internet and the power these groups can yield.  Based on these concepts, the discussion shifts to how the church will be affected by these types of groups and also how it can make use of the ease of group formation to effectively carry out ministry.

The interview:

• Video e-mail (22:33) -  Ray Brown, Congregational Assistant from Summerlin Lutheran in Las Vegas, NV, joins Martin and Sallie to share information on their use of video e-mail as a communication tool to members and prospects.
  • HelloWorld.com

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (43:27)
  • Create a flash scrapbook for your church or school web site – ScrapBlog.com
  • Windows Live SkyDrive – 25 Gb of “in the cloud” online storage
    • Learn more
    • Make SkyDrive a virtual drive on your computer with Gladinet.com
• WELS.net feature (50:05)
  • WELS.net is RSS enabled – www.wels.net/jump/rss
• Community feedback (51:42)
  • John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI shared a fun link to enter to win a USB powered Dirt Devil KWIK vacuum for your keyboard.  The contest runs daily until December 12th.
• Coming up on WELSTech (52:47)
  • Episode 050 - We’ll discuss Chapter 2 of Here Comes Everybody and open our mail bag to share loads of community feedback

The featured artist:

• We close with music of WELS pianist, Dawn Gehlhar - Carol of the Bells from her CD titled Christmas Dreams (54:35)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook

This week on WELSTech we are joined by Gail Potratz, our semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, and we take a look at the skills our students need to succeed in the Web 2.0 world.

Listen now or download Episode 048 (42:52)

The discussion:

• Research Skills in a Web 2.0 World - Joining Martin and Sallie for our monthly classroom technologies discussion is Gail Potratz, Technology Coordinator for Emanuel in New London, WI.  Today’s schools are preparing students for careers that don’t even exist currently.  The discussion centers around how to equip students with skills to succeed in this Web 2.0 world.
  • David Warlick’s Literacy & Learning presentation
  • Evaluate a web page using Yahoo! search > Linkdomain:AnyWebAddress.com
  • Internet Search Tools for Students and Teachers
  • A Vision of K-12 Students Today

The tidbits:

• Picks of the week (26:10)
  • Teaching 21st Century Skills
  • Google Safe Search preferences
  • BiblePlaces.com photo library
• Of interest (34:35)
  • Live streaming of the Koine Christmas concert
    • December 6 @ 5 p.m. CST from Christ Lutheran in Pewaukee, WI
    • Sponsored by WELS Military Services
• Community feedback (36:20)
  • Jason Winget shared a link on the WELSTech Listserve
    • Royalty-free Christmas music – www.feelslikechristmas.com
  • Add your feedback or ideas about Church Media or Content Management Systems to the WELSTech wiki @ welstech.wetpaint.com
• Coming up on WELSTech (38:29)
  • Episode 049 - Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky will be our discussion topic, and we will hear from Ray Brown of Summerlin Lutheran in Las Vegas, NV on the subject of video e-mail

The featured artist:

• We close with music of Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Revelation music ministry (www.revelationwlc.com) - I’m Free from their Led by Light CD (40:42)

Get involved:

• Add a comment below
• E-mail: welstech@wels.net
• Voice mail: 414-375-2334
• del.icio.us tag: welstech
• Join:
  • WELSTech listserve
  • WELSTech on facebook