Keyboarding Thoughts and Resources. This posting includes thoughts and resources regarding: Keyboarding SkillsTeaching StrategiesIdeas to Generate More WritingLanguage-based ApproachSingle Hand TypingKeyboard alternatives Keyboard Considerations Let’s Talk About Keyboarding Skills © 1997 Miriam Struck, MA, OTR/L mstruck2@aol.com "I am often asked for recommendations for software to teach keyboarding skills or when to start.
Those of you who took typing in high school back in the days of typewriters may remember the emphasis on not looking at the keyboard, but keeping your eyes on the text you were copying, and finger placement on the home row keys. In my experience, motivation is often the key to success. Using the keyboard becomes more meaningful when it is tied to making words. Hey, Computer Teachers, stop wasting students' time! (Part 1) Despite increased globalization; despite the need to prepare students to access, evaluate, synthesize, and build upon information and media; and despite the drive to promote Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Communication, and Collaboration, the curriculum of many schools' secondary Computer Information Technology programs tends to hinge on keyboarding and Microsoft Office.
Let me explain, for those who are not already with me, why this is a waste of our students' time and our parents' taxpayer dollars. There are a growing number of voices clamoring to get rid of the "Computer Teacher", arguing that in today's atmosphere of integrated technology we are irrelevant and redundant. What's the Best Way for Kids to Learn Keyboarding? Posted 11/15/2013 3:12PM | Last Commented 07/27/2015 1:46PM With the introduction of STEM in the middle school and high school, our district is looking at how to reconfigure the tech arts, keyboarding and family and consumer science curriculums.
Currently, kids get essentially three years of keyboarding in middle school, with different levels of challenge. My thought is that now, teaching keyboarding by middle school is really too late- most kids have developed "bad" keyboarding habits by that time if they did not learn touch typing, and re-learning will be difficult. I took a poll of HS juniors today to see what they thought, and they all hated typing class in middle school and said it was hard to learn because they already knew how to get by on a keyboard, for better or worse. This makes me think we really need to move our keyboarding into the elementary school sooner rather than later.
If so, what programs or advice might you offer? EasyTech-Implement-Ideas-68.pdf. Keyboarding Lesson Plans. Computer Applications Lessons. 10 Free Typing Practice Activities for Students. This afternoon I received an email from a reader who was looking for some typing games that her elementary school students can play to practice their touch typing skills.
I've reviewed a lot of online typing practice activities over the years, but it has been more than a year since I updated my list. So this evening I put together an updated list of online typing practice activities for students. Type Rocket is a free typing game from ABCya. Type Rocket is a sixty second game in which students make fireworks explode by typing the letters that appear on the rockets in the games. In the sixty second span of the game students try to correctly type as many letters as they possibly can.
Z-Type is a simple and fun typing game. If you want students to take a break from the games, have them use Typing Speed Monitor for Google Chrome. Technology in the Classroom: Make Keyboarding Fun. When you teach typing or technology in the classroom, the goal isn't speed and accuracy.
The goal is that students type well enough that it doesn't disrupt their thinking. Much like breathing takes no thought and playing a piano is automatic, students want to be able to think while they type, fingers automatically moving to the keys that record their thoughts. Searching for key placement shouldn't interfere with how they develop a sentence. Sure, it does when students are just starting, but by third grade, students should be comfortable enough with key placement to be working on speed. To type as fast at the speed of thought isn't as difficult as it sounds. Teaching Keyboarding: More Than Just Typing. While schools have worked hard to integrate computers into the classroom and many do a great job teaching students how they work, many schools do not even consider teaching the art/science of using a keyboard.
"Many teachers think it takes nothing to teach keyboarding, but they are wrong," said teacher Carla Cruzan. "Can anyone teach a science or math course? " Are you a classroom teacher who is also the keyboarding instructor? Tonya Skinner's Business Education Lesson Plans and Resources. CTE/Keyboarding Lesson Plan Search Results. For Kindergarten, First and Second Grade lesson plans, please go to the K, 1, 2 Core listing.
Keyboarding I (7-9) Keyboarding Applications KB Apps - Recipe Cookbook Project These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. Keyboarding - Alternate Activities to Keep it Fun!