program that saves the data to the web. (They specifically designed it
this way, so a school with limited bandwidth could still use it.)
I purchased it last year and had TONS of issues. (The download is over
1 gig, so some parents wanted the file on CD, but it is too big for CD,
so I had to put it on a DVD. However, then some of the parents have
computers with only CD players and not DVD players in them. (Sunburst's
download site is super slow, so downloading a 1 gig file, even on a fast
cable line at home can take a full hour!) =20
This year, there are still some issues, but not as many. We decided not
to require students to use it at home, as some families were still not
able to get it to run at home. (Macs were especially problematic.)
Students can use it at home, but we scheduled eight weeks, about three
times a week to do keyboarding in 4th and 5th grades at school. =20
When the program works, it is good. It teaches the keys well, there is
a section for younger (K-2) kids for keyboarding introduction, and the
games are interesting enough to hold most students' attention. =20
There are still some bugs in the program. For example, I want to set a
minimum wpm and accuracy for my students, but the program overrides this
every time. So this means students are progressing through lessons even
if they only have 3 wpm and 70% accuracy. (My minimum is 15 wpm and 85%
accuracy for 4th grade and 20 wpm in 5th grade.) =20
Things they have changed - you can disable all or any of the games. You
can make the games accessible only after they complete a lesson. You
can make final challenge optional.
In all, it has worked okay after totally not working for us last year. =20
Renee Ramig
Seven Hills School
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Christina DiMicelli
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 6:40 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: online typing programs
Type To Learn 4 has a web version. I do not believe you have to install
anything, it is completely accessible on the web and students can access
it from home to do homework etc. and the accounts are set up by the
Admin. We are looking into this at the moment - it's the Agents of
Information package. We are also getting a "loyalty discount" pricing
because we have TTL3 now. For a one-building package (which would cover
our 240 students), it would be between $700-800. They have so many
different packages that it can be confusing at times. This one covers
K-12 (we are a K-8 school). I called and they sent me a demo which I
installed on my laptop for teachers and students to try out. Positive
feedback thus far - I haven't tried accessing the web version yet.=20
Christina DiMicelli=20
Technology Integration Specialist=20
Hampstead Academy=20
Hampstead, NH=20
dimicelli@hampsteadacademy.org=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Lorri Carroll" <lcarroll@hamdenhall.org>=20
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU=20
Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2010 8:49:32 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: online typing programs=20
We are looking for an online typing program for grades 2 - 8 that can=20
track students progress and log it via a userID (not an email address).
We=20
are working to set benchmarks per grade level and we would like students
to be able to work at home for extra practice and have their lessons and
assessments recorded so that the teacher can see it. Does anyone know of
such a program? All of the ones we have found require an email address.=20
We don't want parents to have to install a program at home. We looked at
Type 2 Learn but it requires a full installation.=20
Lorri Carroll=20
Director of Technology=20
Hamden Hall Country Day School=20
1108 Whitney Avenue=20
Hamden, CT 06517=20
lcarroll@hamdenhall.org=20
work (203) 752-2606=20
cell (203) 215-9833=20
This message contains privileged and confidential information intended=20
solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. Any disclosure,=20
distribution, copying or use of the information by others is strictly=20
prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify
the=20
sender by immediate reply and delete the original message. Thank you.=20
[ For info on ISED-L see
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