Independent School Educators' List (ISED-L): Keyboarding

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Keyboarding

Learning to keyboard ranks as one of the most boring tasks of all and yet
speedy keyboarding makes for faster writing.

Clearly we don't need it to send text messages or emails...but if you are
writing a 15 page paper...well speed is helpful.

In exchange for getting my driver's permit my mother made me take typing at
the local summer school. It was excruciating to sit there and learn to type=
.

My daughter received keyboarding instruction for 8 weeks when she was in 4t=
h
grade-barely. They never finished learning all the letters. She is a colleg=
e
graduate and a keyboarding wizard...who doesn't always use the right
"technique" but her speed is amazing.

We do this:
4th grade: 1 semester of Type to Learn 3 (meets once a week)
5th grade: 1 semester of Type to Learn (meets twice a week)

So far we are continuing with this---but I am really interested to see the
response to this query.

Susan Ferris
The Pingry School

On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org>w=
rote:

> For schools out there that no longer teach technology (fully integrated),
> do you find the need for keyboarding?
>
> This is our third year of full integration. We use technology daily, but
> we don't teach technology. In K-1 they have 5 laptops in each class. In
> 2nd - 5th they have one full set of laptops in each grade (two students f=
or
> one laptop). In middle school, there is about a 1.5 to 1 ratio. The
> laptops on shelves spread around the middle school that students use as
> needed.
>
> In 2nd and up, the students use the computers 3-4 times a week for a
> variety of things including math, research, writing, organizing and
> creating. In K-1, each student generally gets access 1-2 times a week
> during station time. We are using it mostly for language arts in K and m=
ath
> in 1st. In middle school, students use laptops almost daily for lots of
> different tasks.
>
> I use to teach keyboarding three days a week for the first six weeks of
> school in 4th and 5th grades. I have asked the 4th and 5th grade teacher=
s
> to try and fit it in, but they have found it just too time consuming. Th=
ey
> encourage the students to do keyboarding practice at home. Of course, th=
e
> students that don't need to practice are the ones that do it. The ones t=
hat
> need it, never practice.
>
> At this point though, I am not sure there is the need for keyboarding
> instruction anymore. The middle school kids use the laptops almost
> everyday, and none of them seem hindered by their lack of keyboarding
> skills. Granted, I am not sure a single kid uses the standard 10 finger
> method of keyboarding, but they all seem to be at 20 wpm using their
> creative style of keyboarding. We haven't had a formal keyboarding progr=
am
> for three years now, and yet the middle school students seem more confide=
nt
> in their keyboarding abilities than they did four years ago.
>
> We are actually investigating the use of iPads in a pilot program next ye=
ar
> in three grades (K, 4 and 8). This will totally change the way they type
> since it is a virtual keyboard. The students that have iPads seem to hav=
e
> no problem using a virtual keyboard. It is usually the teachers that hav=
e
> problems with it.
>
> With students using computers more and more at school and at home, and wi=
th
> the input method changing on some devices, should we be taking class time=
to
> teach keyboarding?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Renee Ramig
> Seven Hills School
>
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