The latest web tool I am looking into is Stroome. What is Stroome? Stroome is the world's most collaborative video editing community. Upload videos, share clips, then mix it up and mash it out. Thousands of clips, hundreds of collaborators, unlimited possibilities. Stroome is a tool for web reporting. I have not created a project yet, but I'm sure that will happen in the near future. Here's what intrigues me about this web tool.

Have you heard about Quest to Learn? Quest to Learn is a new school that is using game-based learning to build 21st century literacy skills. Here's a video podcast from the school's executive director of design, Katie Salen, who talks about the philosophy behind the school, including the similarities between the way game designers work and the way good teachers work. Must see web-TV!

Latitude in conjunction with ReadWriteWeb has released research on what children want from their technology. It's a fascinating look at the future from a child's perspective.

I came across another amazing resource with loads of in-depth tutorials on how to paint with light. Check it out.

I've been reading Clay Shirky's new book Cognitive Surplus. The book is challenging my thinking on the impact of social networking and all things digital on society. In the book, Shirky notes that people in the United States spend 200 billion hours a year watching TV and it took only 100 million hours to create Wikipedia. What does that really look like?

I've been researching light painting ever since I saw the effect on a series of Sprint commercials. It's a fantastic effect that requires a lot of time and planning, but the end result would look amazing! Take a look at some of the tutorial links on how to create the tools to paint with light and paint with gusto!

We finished three weeks of Hot U at the end of July. It was an intense time that required over 400 volunteers and served over 1000 kids. One of the things that we looked at this year was trying to find a way to allow the kids a place to catalog what they had learned and experienced. This year we went low-tech. We placed a simple poster in each room with a key question on it and asked the kids to write on the poster. We asked kids when they felt that God was with them. We received responses like, "At my dad's funeral." "Never." "When I worship." It was a simple journal-like way to get the pulse of what God was doing. Next year I might try GuestReel. GuestReel is a Mac software application that turns your computer into a video kiosk. It looks incredibly simple. GuestReel allows users to put in their name and write a message, then record a video using the computer's built-in camera or a connected device. It would be SO awesome to see kids respond after large group in thi

One of the critical questions that children's and family ministry leaders face is the issue of how technology impacts relationships. Regardless of where I travel to speak with children's ministry leaders and volunteers, in every venue I am asked to respond to this issue. A subset of questions on this issue include: Does the Internet and digital communication dilute real relationships? Are the benefits of digital relationality better than the dangers?

Check out this video from Pixar University's Dean, Randy Nelson talking about Collaboration. Read more...

I came across a couple of great resources for Digital Immigrants who want to become more fluent in the language and tools of Digital Learners. The Digital Diet is a new book by Andrew Churches, Lee Crocket, and Ian Jukes. The contributors have also create some "Small Byte" ebooks. According to the Committed Sardine Blog, each ebook "includes a quick-start guide, examples of how to use this tool in your classroom, and examples of activities which will help cultivate the 21st century fluencies." Please note that these resources were created specifically for educators and school settings, but they are really accessible for ministry. Read more...

I just finished reading a Wired Article entitled "Why Aren’t Games About Winning Anymore?" by Jonathan Liu. Liu uncovers a recent trend in video games where modern games are less about actually getting to the last level (a la Super Mario Brothers) and more about gaining achievements during the game. http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/06/achievement-unlocked For instance, I have become addicted to the iPhone app Angry Birds. Angry Birds is a great game built on a ridiculous premise: catapult birds into fortresses made of wood, ice, and stone so you can destroy green pigs. As I have played through the game, I noticed that every once in a while a message would flash across the lower part of the screen indicating that I had reached one of the game's "Achievements." The game all of a sudden became less about defeating the green pigs (which is relatively easy) and more about the achievements. Read more...

I wanted to post my answer to the question, What Matters Now in Children's Ministry. I chose the word, digital. Here's why… Research makes it clear that the generation of children in our ministries today is vastly different than any other group of children the Church has sought to reach. They engage and edit media, experiment with culture, and experience community in new ways. They are fluent in the language of technology. They collaborate, teach, connect, and relate using a network of individualized digital tools. They prefer a unique learning experience with parallel processing, multitasking, feedback, and relevance. They navigate the digital world deftly and quickly. They blur the lines between the physical and virtual. They are open to the truth of God's Word. Read more...

SortFix is an interesting search tool that incorporates an intuitive, fun interface. You type in the search terms, but SortFix scans and examines your results and kicks back a list of keywords that will help you define a search and narrow the results. Call it "search by word association." Check it out.. sortfix.com

I know a lot of people who spend time designing their own graphics for children's ministry, without the benefit of a design degree or professional training. Here are some sites I go to for help: Read more...

I officially received my "I'm old" card when we took my oldest daughter to sign up for Kindergarten. My daughter will be one of the fine members of the class of 2023. In our school district, a lot of information is shared with parents online. I'm wondering, when will the church catch up? I know the big question that many churches and leaders are asking is, how do we resource parents? Are there any web-based connecting tools to link parents and kids to what's going on at church, similar to the tools used by school districts? The most innovative ideas we have at present involve printing a piece of paper or sending a stylized email. In the digital age, that's just not going to cut it (and presently it is not). What are the innovative ways churches are connecting with parents digitally?

I just came across an article entitled, "I Want It Now! The Fierce Urgency of Videogaming's Future." The article identified a key characteristic of today's video game consumer: impatience. Ever heard of Farmville? The insanely popular Facebook game's chief game designer recently pinpointed that many gamers lose interest in a game because the game takes too long to load. Take a guess about how long Farmville takes to load…. Six seconds. Be patient, there's more...

Several years ago I stood in front of a group of children's ministry volunteers and leaders at Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. For the very first time, I shared my thoughts on how digital kids learned and the challenges ahead for the field of children's and family ministry. One of the big questions from that presentation that has stayed with me over the past six years has been: What if children's ministry became more like a video game than a book? Read more...

As a children's pastor interested in technology, media, and the Internet I am always looking for resources related to the way kids interact in the digital world. Recently OnlineFamily.Norton, a background computer program that shows that your children are doing online, released a fascinating report on the most popular search terms for kids 13-18, 8-12, and 7 & under. Read more...

Guy Kawasaki is a Twitter and social media expert. He's the founder of Alltop, the online magazine rack (which I use as my homepage). At the world's largest consumer electronics tradeshow (CES), Guy gave a presentation entitled "The Art of Innovation" where he outline eleven key ideas. 1. Make Meaning - great marketing campaigns strike an emotional, real connection with people 2. Make Mantra - can you boil down what you are trying to communicate into a simple phrase like Wendy's, Nike, or eBay? 3. Jump to the Next Curve - Ice 1.0 was Harvest, Ice 2.0 was a Factory, Ice 3.0 was a Fridge 4. Roll the Dice - Deep, Intelligent, Complete, Elegant 5. Don't Worry Be Crappy 6. Let 100 Flowers Blossom 7. Polarize People 8. Churn, Baby, Churn - go against the flow 9. Niche Thyself - there is a place where value and uniqueness can coexist in excellence 10. Follow 10-20-30 Rule Read more...

Previously I wrote about five forces or broad trends that we are facing as children's and family ministry leaders (the rise of the individual, connectivity, Twitter Speed, Rip-Mix-Burn-Share, and Motion Blur). I'd like to finally address the last force - Motion Blur. From the original article: Motion Blur: The result of the previous four trends is motion blur. Motion blur is happens when you take a photograph of something that is moving rapidly. The result is a less detailed picture, since the picture is trying to interpret all the movement and show the sense of speed. In the lives of kids and families today there is motion blur between the virtual and physical worlds they occupy. For kids and teens in the virtual world, friends and relationships on Facebook are just as valid as the friends and relationships they have at their school or neighborhood. Shane Hipps who wrote Flickering Pixels introduces the term "digitally absent" for those who would rather take a phone call th

Previously I wrote about five forces or broad trends that we are facing as children's and family ministry leaders (the rise of the individual, connectivity, Twitter Speed, Rip-Mix-Burn-Share, and Motion Blur). I'd like to address each one of these trends and present some ideas and possibilities for response. From the original article: Rip, Burn, Mix, Share: The iTunes mantra has become the new normal for content. Television shows or news programs get live video responses then mashed up, auto-tuned, and delivered to YouTube. Did you know that Google recently changed its copyright enforcement largely because of a YouTube video of a wedding party dance that turned a song into Sony's 8th best seller in history? Tutorials for professional software are distributed with the original files so that users can think up new ways of creating content, all for free. Kids are used to creating their own content. One of my favorite weekends of the year is the weekend after Christmas beca

So many things around us are changing. There are forces at work in the lives of our children and families that need to be recognized and addressed.

It is possible to shoot amazing videos with a camera that costs less than $200. I'll show you how!

I'm about to share one of the best kept secrets in children's ministry.

I'm always looking for better ways to find things on the Internet. As you know, the Internet is a vast sea of information that is constantly being searched and catalogued.

Is there a reason why the Cory Center has a technology blog for a children's and family ministry website? Find out.

If the world of information is growing exponentially, what are you doing to keep up in your leadership, teaching, and learning?

With new online tools for devotions, how much time should we spend teaching kids how to use the book of the Bible?

Turn the discipline of prayer into a visual and digital experience with http://Wordle.Net

You might be a tech geek if any of the following phrases apply to you!

Evernote is a new web-tool that helps people like me remember things that I come across online. Move bookmarks aside - Evernote is the new elephant in the room.

Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels, has some interesting things to say about technology and faith.

Can Wii Fit help curb the obesity epidemic in American families?

A new video game changes the face of interaction.

Are the kids we serve becoming contributors or just bigger consumers? YouTube helps us decide.