When children are learning to type or are learning about technology, there isn’t an accuracy or speed goal. The goal is that the students type well, yes, however, it should not disrupt their thinking process.
The Goal
As you know breathing does not require you to think. The goal is to prepare students to be able to do this with typing. Students should be able to type without it disrupting their thought process. When students are searching for keys, this shouldn’t cause issues with the thought process. It should not interfere with them developing sentences.
Learning
Students did not learn to type until high school because it was a skill. However, children are learning to type by third grade because it is an essential tool for the classroom. There is much technology in the classroom today. Most of the things that students do in the classroom would require typing. There are a few different ways to teach students to type.
- Drill
This is part of every type of typing programs. This will teach students where to place their fingers and where the keys are. They will also learn how to use their fingers for different keys and how their posture should look. There are many programs available to teach children how to type. Most of the time, students are excited to start typing.
- Games
Many times, students will become bored with the drilling aspect of typing. This is when you start to introduce games. However, these games will help teach the placement of keys, accuracy, and speed. There are plenty of games available for typing. Games are not something that should be on a set schedule. They should be rewards or sporadically used.
- Quizzes
All students know what quizzes are. Quizzes test knowledge. It will show teachers who understand the material and who doesn’t quite grasp it. Some schools will require students to take quizzes while learning to keyboard. This will show the teachers who is improving and how they are improving.
- Integrating it into the Classroom
Students are going to be using keyboarding for many things as they grow. Introducing the aspect into the classroom early will help them develop the skills they need as they age. Technology is a huge part of the classroom and allowing students to use it is one of the best things that can be done. Students can write a book report, make a brochure, or work on documents together with others through Google applications.
- ASCII Art
This application will use a student’s keyboarding skills to help create representations of classroom learning in an artistic manner. This way is a fun way to integrate keyboarding into classrooms. This is a unique way to integrate keyboarding into learning. It excites students because it is a very unique program and it allows them to learn while having fun. All students will need to do is find a photo that goes with the topic they are discussing in class. They will put it through a program that puts a watermark on it and type over the image. When they have properly typed what they need to, the watermark is erased.
Image by Memin Sito from Pixabay
