Computer Touch Typing for Children
"It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of research on the acquisition of keyboarding in our schools. As the 'digital highway' supersedes the printed library, the keyboard will replace the pencil as the key to literacy. For all children, and especially those for whom handwriting is already a weakness, skill at the keyboard will be an essential part of becoming a literate and knowledgeable person. Without research on how such skills are developed, we are bound to waste the resources of our teachers and our children."
Dr. Bart Pisha
Rates of Development of Keyboarding Skills in Elementary School Aged Children With and Without Identified Learning Disabilities
(1993) A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Education.
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WHY TEACH TYPING EARLY?
Keyboarding is a skill currently taught in school systems as a necessary tool
for students to function in the highly technological world we live in.
Why teach touch-typing as early as first grade?
Here are three important reasons
1. For children who struggle to read, we are able to utilize a literacy tool not widely available before now.
2. Through early training opportunities, we provide children with important guidance in ergonomically safe keyboarding techniques, knowledge and habits. Because computers are in many classrooms from kindergarten up, early introduction of correct typing technique is important.
3. By avoiding inefficient habits to develop from a self-taught typing style (usually hunt and peck), we equip students with practical skills they will use throughout their school careers and likely the rest of their lives.
TOUCH-TYPING: Often school systems do not offer touch-typing until many children have taught themselves a "hunt and peck" style. Most would agree it is easier to teach correct technique early than attempt re-training later. Beyond the practical argument of when to teach keyboarding is another more crucial question ... does learning to touch-type have a measurable effect on learning to read?
Evidence reveals that reading skills improve when children learn the complex process of touch-typing, even when improved reading was not the intended outcome. A good reason to bring children to the keyboard for early training in touch-typing is the literacy advantage it provides.
Typing Pilots is an early childhood literacy-based program that utilizes the formal, structured touch-typing method of teaching keyboarding. By learning "home keys", consistent key reaches, excellent posture and relaxation techniques, students develop a healthy and efficient keyboarding style.
Page 2: Language at Your Fingertips
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