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Teaching Keyboarding: More Than Just
Typing
While
schools are moving from the computer lab environment to integrating computers
into the classroom, many teachers do not consider teaching the art/science of
keyboarding.
Teaching
keyboarding is not fast and simple. Years ago many high school students took
typing classes. Typically taught by a business education type teacher, students
learned correct typing technique and posture while trying to increase speed and
accuracy. Some passed with flying colors, some got by only to use the hunt and
peck method.
While
keyboarding skills are necessary, many children are learning to manipulate
keyboards at an early age. First graders are still learning to put together
words and sentences. In addition their fingers and fine motor skills haven’t
developed for properly learning to move about the keyboard, so it really
doesn’t make sense to try and teach them real keyboarding skills.
Yet
unfortunately, students simply develop bad habits by the time they are
developmentally ready to really learn and understand keyboarding. Keyboarding
is an important psycho-motor skill that all students need to learn, but that
fact is not being recognized. Years of research have been done on the correct way
to teach keyboarding skills.
There
is a reason for those aaa sss asa asdf drills. There is also a reason those
high schoolers went to class on a daily schedule to learn typing. It simply
doesn’t work when you only seem them once every five or six days in a rotation
in an elementary setting. Certainly introducing children to the home row keys,
showing them video clips of “typing” class and facilitating dialogue about the
importance of proper keyboarding is a great start in the elementary classroom
anywhere from 3rd-5th grade.
The
sites listed on this page are great for helping introduce your students to the
fundamentals of keyboarding at the elementary level and a great resource for
center time if you have computers in your classroom.
Dance
Mat Typing
Computer
Circus
Mr.
Kent’s Typing Test
Typing
Bubbles
Nimble
Fingers
Type
Online
Computer
Keyboarding Questions
One
Hand Typing
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