Typing programs

Many children can type more successfully and legibly than they can handwrite. When they have access to a device that they can type on, the publishing of their work can become much more efficient.

You will need to decide whether the child is focused enough to learn to touch type. With Touch Typing the typist should not look at the keyboard or hands, all the information is on the screen.

If they are not mature or focussed enough they can learn to speed up their keyboarding anyway. Just typing regularly will help them to find their way around the keyboard and may help with word patterns, spellings, upper- and lower-case knowledge.

Touch typing is a motor learning experience. This means not looking at the hands. The best way to ensure this is to cover the learner’s hands with a light cloth. Anyone learning to touch type acquires a skill that will last a lifetime, like riding a bike.

Most will benefit from following a series of exercises that, if practised regularly, can lead to a high rate of accuracy in typing and a good rate in terms of words per minute. In handwritten exams with a lot of writing involved writing at a rate of 20 words per minute is an arduous task. Rates of 40 -50 WPM should be easily managed by young learners.

If you have a subscription for PurpleMash you will find that 2Type has informative videos about posture and hand position, as well as an excellent series of timed exercises for teaching keyboarding skills. (Sit comfortably with your back up straight and your feet on the ground). Animated hands guide children to the correct finger for each key as they fight against the clock to set a high score. Users can adjust the speed and duration of each typing activity before they play, making 2Type good for all abilities.

The activities start with single keystrokes, including letters, numbers and punctuation, and progress to cover words, phrases, and whole paragraphs.

Every challenge can be set as a 2do in the normal way, and pupil speed and progress is easily tracked with a score report. (Using 2Do, teachers can set tasks, activities and games for their class or specific children to do.)

If you don’t have PurpleMash  an excellent website for teaching touch typing is http://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/typing/  where touch typing games will take learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences. Each activity has a range of accessibility options.

Doorway Text Type is a touch typing tutor which takes learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences. This should benefit all learners, but these activities are also designed to be as accessible as possible to visually impaired learners.

Typists will need to get into a comfortable position in which the hands fall naturally onto the keyboard. The surface on which the keyboard stands must not be too high. The wrists may rest on pads if you are typing for a long time.

A Touch Typing programme is a series of lessons starting with the home keys ( A S D F J K L 🙂  and leading to full mastery of the keyboard. It is quite important to master (a score of 90% or more accuracy) each stage before moving on to the next.  It is most beneficial to practice regularly and often (10 minutes a day maybe)

It is important to be accurate before building up speed. So learners should start slowly. If a pupil  can type at a regular pace, almost to a beat, it will help them to  achieve a high speed.

Text type 3 is the latest version of this popular touch typing tutor, designed with visually impaired learners in mind. It is being updated to html5, in order to be compatible with all devices.

Text Type 2 The touch typing tutor that takes learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences.

Single Handed Typing This activity will guide a person who is effectively a single handed user through learning an efficient typing method. There are layout diagrams for both left handed and right handed schemes here: left hand layout, right hand layout.

Younger children might like the BBC Dance Mat typing pages. https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/z3c6tfr  with  four levels to play, each divided into three stages. They will need headphones or speakers to enjoy the song and dance in each game.

 

Why learn to touch type?

When you can do it well, touch typing is the fastest way to write. Many people quickly learn to touch type faster than they can write with a pen. The important things to remember are:

■  Use the correct fingers

■  There’s no need to rush!

■  Always rest your wrists on the desk.

You should take a rest and shake your hands and arms to relax your muscles if you get tired.

Try not to look at your hands when you are learning to type.