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| keyboard photo from Flickr |
So I've been talking with my former college professor about keyboarding skills, how kids learn them and whether we should still be teaching them.
Part of me looks down at my swiftly moving fingers (I don't look down that often) and thinks "Yeah!" being able to type fast is awesome!
Another part of me remembers the first time I rotated an iPad and tried to use both hands to type on the screen. It was not very successful...I kind of made up my own new system.
As a lab teacher, I spent very little time on keyboarding skills. This is for two reasons.
1) My students have already taught themselves how to keyboard on their phones or at home.
2) Were I to focus on keyboarding instruction until my students had mastered Home Row, there would be no time for video editing, music editing, teaching Digital Citizenship, web design or learning programming skills.
Part of me wonders if I am doing my students a disservice. Will they end up in college or high school unable to type fast enough? Will they sit down to take that online GRE or writing test and fail because they have run out of time?
Then the other part chimes in: "Are your students entering a world that rewards fast typers or a world that rewards innovative thinkers and creative minds?"
What do you think?
If you have any research or articles pertaining to this topic, please share them in the comments!
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having found your page. I teach keyboarding to High School students. It is required for graduation. However, I truly feel it should be taught in 4 or so grade. Recently I had a student to enter my class that could type 92 words a minute.... with two fingers never looking at the keyboard. we must reach these students earlier. Just as in Spanish or any other language.
I instruct keyboarding to higher college students. It is required for graduation.
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RE: Recently I had a student to enter my class that could type 92 words a minute.... with two fingers never looking at the keyboard. we must reach these students earlier. Just as in Spanish or any other language.
So are you saying that typing 92 words a minute is only okay if the student is using the right fingers? Isn't the point to type with accuracy and speed. If one can do that with their own modified technique, then isn't this just as rewarding?
Today we have keyboards that split to enable thumb use, devices that use thumbs or single fingers through texting, touch such as on an ipad, a variety of mouse shapes and controls, or even voice controlled devices. We all use these things in the way that we can get the best results. To me the future is expose to multiple ways and explore to find the way that best meets your needs. We can help students to do this by being open to all learning styles.