7 Tech Tools You Can Use in #Kidmin

As a leader, you've got lots of tools in your leadership toolbox.... planning, delegation, recruiting volunteers, people skills, and so on...  How many technical tools are in your toolbox?  You know, those nifty tricks and time-savers that help you get your work done on the computer...

Here are 7 Tech Tools you can use in your kids ministry ... and the best part?  They are pretty easy to learn and implement right away!  These are some of my favorites, you may have others to contribute...if so, share them in the comments, on the CentriKid facebook page, or tweet them to me!

 

DropBox - this is simple solution for sharing files with a collaborative team or for making things easy to download for staff members or church members.  I use Dropbox to share lots of high resolution baby photos with my dad instead of emailing them.  There is free & paid version...and there are lots of ways to get more space in your free Dropbox account, like referring other users. (click here to get started, and you and I both will get extra free space!)

Evernote - my favorite searchable note-taking application...available on your smartphone, PC, or Mac.  This has been a lifesaver when I've needed a specific detail, but can't get to my desk.  The free version has monthly upload limitations, but I haven't ever maxed out the monthly limit.  It handles PDF, emails, photos, and the text in documents, photos, & handwritten notes is searchable (assuming your hand-writing is somewhat legible).  This app is amazing, and they keep making improvements to it.

 Posterous - this is the easist blog to create and maintian.  All you have to be able to do is send an email...and you are a blogger.  With a couple of minutes of setup, you can customize your blog and have it auto-post to all your social media sites.  I host my personal blog CoachEchols.com via Posterous and I love how easy it makes the whole process.  This is an easy way for you to post regular announcements, share information with parents in your ministry, or even create a short-term blog for special events like going to CentriKid so those parents can get all the info they need to prepare for your trip.

Use Multiple Browsers - I wish I thought of doing this years ago... but there are 2 main reasons I always have multiple browsers open on my computer desktop.  (1) Keep work and personal email accounts separated but opened simultaneously.  (2) Access membership sites without being logged in.... like checking a blog post or a link that I'm sharing without being logged in to that site.   I always have Firefox open with my personal email, google docs, facebook, twitter, coachechols.com, etc...   Chrome open with my work email, work google docs, calendar, centrikidblog, etc...  Safari is where I'm not logged in to any accounts and can test a link to see if it works or preview a blog post without being logged in to the editing screen.

Social Media - Not everybody has to be a social media giant.  Just a little bit of effort can make Facebook and Twitter serve as great connection tools for expanding your ministry into the community.  I recently helped my dad setup a blog on Posterous so it will automatically share to all the social media sites he wants.  Facebook is for more than just pictures of babies and Twitter can do more than just tell what you had for dinner.

iMovie - I know you probably just skipped over this one.  Nobody has time to learn how to become a video producer.  This is where I want to challenge you a little bit though.  Everybody seems to be making videos on their phones and iPods, so why not you?  Spruce up your weekly announcements at church or the email newsletter by adding a video.  Just shoot it on your phone, camera, or whatever ... import it into iMovie and play around.  There are lots of short video tutorials online and you can pick up the basics really quickly.  There are Windows PC movie makers too, so give it a try!

Keyboard shortcuts - lots of computer programs have keyboard shortcuts that can really save you a lot of time.  I navigate my Google Calendar primarily by keyboard shortcuts now and it is much quicker.  Almost any computer program saves your current file by hitting "Command-S" or "Control-S" and there are quick ways to close programs when you are done.

These are a few of my favorite tech tools and skills, so I hope they can help you too.  Share some of your favorites with me, I would love to learn from you!

Jeremy Echols leads the camp team and love saving time with shortcuts so he can spend more time with #BabyMadison.  Keep up with them & even share more tech tools with JE via his twitter.

Comments

[Josh Hayes]

thanks for the tech tools on your blog! downloaded a couple of them from the app store today. Really appreciate the variety of practical tips and help you (y'all) provide on CK blog. Love it!

[Chris Giddens]

PACA LIVES...

Oh... anyway... Evernote is the BEE'S KNEES!

[Mae | Sticker Printing]

Emailing large files is such a headache! I've always encountered trouble with them. You're right, using DropBox is really helpful, no in fact it's cool.