Is Keyboarding a Dying Art
Uncategorized August 9, 2012Recently, while having a debate with my son who insists that now that iPods and cellphones are on the scene, the need for keyboarding is unnecessary, I read an article from a business teacher, no doubt, whose sentiments on this subject were closely aligned with his.
My questions then is, should business teachers still require students to learn to key by touch? I say YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I’m of a dying breed of business teachers, but I think students should learn to key by touch so that they are able to increase their productivity while typing. Sure, you start out slow, but with practice your speed increases. I can’t say the same for what I call–”hunting and pecking.” My son would say he differs with that because he no longer uses eight fingers and one thumb to type and his typing speed rivals mine, but I say to him–”You are as fast as you are because you learned where the keys were located before you adapted to your new style of typing.”
I agree that you don’t hang a child because he/she types “c” with the “f” finger; or “r” with the “d” finger, but hunting and pecking is just not the way. The problem with keyboarding today is that students are being introduced to the keyboard at such a young age, they develop the hunt and peck method and then when they enter middle school or high school where keyboarding shows up in the curriculum, they are convinced that they already know how to type because they are satisfied with how they’ve been doing it up to this point.–A headache for a diehard business teacher like myself.
I’m convinced that touch typing should be introduced at the Kindergarten and/or first grade level. Why, I taught my son to type on a typewriter when he was four years old–computers were not as prevalent then. After 30+ years of teaching business on the secondary level, this year I taught at an elementary/middle school. There my patience with teaching touch typing was put to the ultimate test. To maintain my sanity, I went with something my sister told me years ago–”not all children want to learn to type; but don’t hinder the ones that do.” So I required them all to learn the touch method, not getting upset when I noticed some doing their own thing, and worked diligently with those that did. When it came time to work with my first graders; however, my heart melted. Those babies took to touch typing like ducks to water. Just look at my babies typing. Now I know where to put my efforts.
- First Graders Touch Typing
- Touch Typing–1st Grade
September 17th, 2012 at 6:27 PM
I learned to “touch” type on a typewriter and moved with computers. I think it’s important that kids learn to “touch” type and hands/fingers should be placed in the correct position for reason such as speed and accuracy. All jobs require typing skills and while they don’t check where your hands are located, they are looking for speed and accuracy. iPods and iPads don’t necessarily help the case out since its single finger touch type and the keyboard is not big enough for proper placement.
September 26th, 2012 at 3:31 PM
I have often wondered how the newer generation was going to integrate into the school system having only know “LOL” “OMG” and “u r sooooo gr8!” Texting shorthand has caused some kids to completely ignore grammer and keyboarding to the extent that, as you mention, the hunt and peck method is the best they can do. As a history teacher, my focus is on the historical data being correct, but find it very hard to pass up the grammatical errors that are rampant. Starting children as young as possible typing their homeowrk (reports, projects, presentations, etc…) helps, but I feel your frustration. George Washington made have been a jovial fellow, but he never LOL’d!
October 21st, 2012 at 11:08 AM
I AGREE! I worked at a K-6 elementary school in Vermont in the late 1990′s and they started keyboarding in Kindergarten.
What typing program do you suggest for a K-5 school?
I worked at a K-2 school in NC that used “Ultra Key” but it didn’t provide enough practice to really learn the home row and more.
October 21st, 2012 at 1:16 PM
Thanks for the comment.
October 21st, 2012 at 1:18 PM
I used Dance Mat Typing which the little ones enjoyed and despite the fact that the classes met only once a week for 30 minutes, some learned to key in the first year of using the program. A more comprehensive program, however, is Glencoe Online Typing, which aligns itself with the South Western Typing Book used in high schools.
October 28th, 2012 at 8:32 PM
I agree! Recently some of my students took a practice test online and had to create written responses. As I looked on I was shocked at how painstakingly slow my students typed out their thinking. I had to consider how much the typing process interrupted their thinking. Since we do not teach typing I do not know what to do to help them become more successful – do you have any suggestions?
November 1st, 2012 at 1:07 PM
There’s a cute program that I used with my elementary classes 1-5 now use with my senior citizen class that teaches the keyboard in a short period of time. Those who really want to learn will enjoy and use the program. Here’s the link: Hope this helps.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:55 PM
I completely agree that we should teach our students keyboarding. Now that most schools will be moving towards end of grade testing on computers over the next few years, I feel it is critical for our students to be able to type and organize their ideas while typing. I have found some on-line programs to have my students use to practice. Have you had your students do anything to type over this year?