Nov 12
This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie are celebrating National Distance Learning Week. They also interview WELS member and businessman John Simonson on web marketing techniques.
Listen now or download Episode 045 (48:01)
The discussion:
- Check out Martin’s completed deck project
- National Distance Learning Week - Distance education is growing in popularity, and with today’s Web 2.0 tools, the barriers to creating your own distance learning initiative are virtually gone. Martin and Sallie discuss the components of a distance learning offering and share tips for starting your own objective-based online learning. We also showcase WELS’ many online learning resources for Bible study, ministry support and more.
The interview:
Search Engine Optimization (14:56) - WELS member John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI is a business owner of a web development company, WebStream Dynamics. John joins Martin and Sallie to share his knowledge on marketing web sites and search engine optimization, and we look at applications of these techniques for church web sites.
The tidbits:
- Picks of the week (31:35)
- Of interest (37:29)
- Live streaming of the Western Regional Choral Festival concert
- November 16 @ 2 p.m. CST from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School in New Ulm, MN
- Community feedback (39:18)
- The WELSTech facebook group has 94 members! Will you be member 100?
- Ryan Rosenthal from Faith in Fond du Lac, WI shared a link to LibriVox.org. The goal of the site is to make all public domain books available as free audio books.
- Coming up on WELSTech (42:53)
- Episode 046 - We’ll take a look at “Event Driven Marketing” as you prepare your web site for the Advent and Christmas season. The interview will be with Brian Shaffer of FinalWeb.net, and he’ll share new features being implemented for their web hosting customers.
The featured artist:
- This week we close with the music of In His Service featuring WELS musicians Dr. Patricia Backhaus and Valerie Floeter (www.adagioconcepts.com) – Gabriel’s Message from their CD titled In His Time (45:03)
Get involved:
Tags: Distance Learning, search
Aug 27
This week on WELSTech Martin, Sallie and our semi-regular classroom correspondent, Gail Potratz, discuss congregation and school uses for wikis. Also, we are joined by Maria Andersen as she shares how Web 2.0 leveled the playing field when it comes to teaching online.
Listen now or download Episode 034 (1:02:57)
The discussion:
- Wikis - Martin, Sallie and Gail give listeners a crash course on wikis, a very popular Web 2.0 tool which can be used for web-based collaboration in churches and schools. Featuring easy set-up and update functions that anyone can do without HTML or other programming knowledge, wikis also allow for inclusion of all forms of multi-media content.
The interview:
Leveling the online education playing field (20:10) - Maria Andersen, who serves on the Math Faculty at Muskegon Community College, joins Martin and Sallie to discuss her experiences as an online calculus teacher and share how Web 2.0 tools allow all her students to communicate with her regardless of their software and hardware set-up. You’ll even hear the story behind the purple calculus teacher avatar that Maria uses on her blog.
The tidbits:
- Picks of the week (39:05)
- WELS.net feature (50:00)
- Through My Bible in 3 Years – a variety of flavors to suit every taste
- Of interest (53:41)
- Community feedback (54:40)
The featured artist:
- We close with the music WELS contemporary praise band, Koine (www.koinemusic.com) – Chief of Sinners Though I Be from their CD title Koine (59:42)
Get involved:
Tags: Distance Learning, Web2.0, wikis
Jul 16
Following up on WELSTech Episode 027, Martin and Sallie discuss systems for implementing Getting Things Done(GTD) productivity principles and wrap up their interview with Prof. David Sellnow on the hybrid classroom.
Listen now or download Episode 028 (44:37)
The discussion:
Time Management Systems - Martin and Sallie continue their discussion of the productivity principles outlined in David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (listen to Part 1) and explore options for the “trusted system” or tool to store and organize your task list.
- GTD systems
- Additional GTD resources
The interview:
- The Hybrid Classroom (17:44) - Today Martin and Sallie conclude their interview with Prof. David Sellnow of Martin Luther College (listen to Part 1). Prof. Sellnow shares ideas and cautions for getting started with blended courses and also looks into the future at where our synod may go with online education offerings.
The tidbits:
- Picks of the week (31:00)
- WELS.net feature (35:55)
- Of interest (37:19)
The featured artist:
- We close with music of WELS artist, Kevin Loersch - O Sacred Head Now Wounded from his CD titled Abide With Me (39:50)
Get involved:
Tags: Distance Learning, education, GTD, productivity
Jul 09
This week Martin and Sallie discuss the Getting Things Done organization system for improving personal productivity. They also interview Prof. David Sellnow about blending traditional and online education.
Listen now or download Episode 027 (1:06:50)
The discussion:
- Time Management and Productivity - In this technology rich age, we are daily bombarded from all directions with things to do. Listen as Martin and Sallie share the popular productivity principles of Getting Things Done (GTD) and how the GTD methods can help even our busy pastors and teachers have “Mind Like Water”.
The interview:
The Hybrid Classroom (28:05) - In the first of a two-part interview, Prof. David Sellnow of Martin Luther College joins Martin and Sallie to share insight into the benefits of blending traditional classroom activities with online activities. Prof. Sellnow has successfully blended his course offerings at MLC and suggests that similar blending could accentuate courses at the high school and even elementary school levels.
The tidbits:
- Picks of the week (43:36)
- WELS.net feature (53:23)
- Of interest (55:03)
- Community feedback – Mass e-mail recommendations via the WELSTech listserve (56:27)
The featured artist:
- We close with music of WELS artist, WendySue Fluegge (www.wendysue.com) – Time from her CD titled Everyday Christian (1:00:45)
Get involved:
Tags: Distance Learning, e-mail, education, GTD, productivity
Jan 16
This week Martin and Sallie discuss mindmapping and some tools to help users apply this brainstorming concept through technology. They also interview Professor Jim Grunwald of Martin Lutheran College. Jim also serves as the synod’s Director of Distance Education.
Listen now or download Episode 002
The discussion:
- Mind Mapping – Martin and Sallie discuss the concepts behind mind mapping, numerous uses for the tool and various software solutions for mind mapping.
- Read more about mind mapping on Wikipedia
- Try mind mapping:
The interview:
The tidbits:
- This week’s picks
- WELS.net feature – Through my Bible in 3 Years
- Upcoming Events
- Community feedback
- This week we heard from listener Steve Mathwig with ideas and questions for upcoming episodes.
The featured artist:
Get involved:
Tags: Backup, Bible, Distance Learning, Mind Mapping, Skype
