HIT: Keyboarding

[Cheryl Sturgeon <csturgeo@OHIO.NET>]

-- [ From: Cheryl Sturgeon * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --

Took me awhile, but I am posting a hit about teaching keyboarding
I will first summarize the results of the 37 responses I got. Most
respondents felt it was worth doing.Not all messages gave the same data so
this is not real "scientific" but here goes:
Preferred starting grade level-4th grade(16)
                        below 4th (8)
                        MID     (2)
Teacher of keyboarding-
                typing or computer teacher (11)
                classroom teacher (3)
                librarian (1)
                volunteers(1)

Method
                computer typing program (11)
                traditional typing instruction (3)
                Herzog method (2)
                learning thru practice? (1)

Time
                Ranged from once a week to 3/30 min. periods
                for up to nine weeks

Conclusions: I am convinced that we probably do need to teach it at
elementary.  The responses show that all we need to do is find TIME,
TEACHERS, and a LAB


Below I am quoting some of the comments I thought interesting.
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IMHO, there are THREE classes that ought to be on the_ required_
HS list for graduation credits. They are homemaking, auto mechanics, &typing
.
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My husband took typing in high school --probably one of the fastest.
Because his career did not require typing, he did not useit daily for 20 or
30 years until computers entered the picture <snip> You might say he is now
a "non-traditional" typist also since he doesn't use all the fingers on the
"home keys", etc.; but he, too, does very well.
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The sooner the better is my philosophy!

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I think middle school is a good place for this skill to be taught in terms
of how it fits the curriculum, but by the time today's kids reach us, they
have already developed some pretty bad hunt and peck routines that are
difficult to overcome.

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...at the two elementary schools where I have worked, keyboarding was taught
in 4th grade.  It was taught by a computer assistant and
was actually part of the "specials" plan which not only extended the
curriculum but provided another planning slot for teachers.
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Our computer lab teacher teaches keyboarding skills starting in third grade.
 Her goal is to have them touch typing by the end of 5th grade.
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We are a K-8 school and we begin keyboarding skills in kindergarten!
We do have a computer facilitator who introduced the typing program to the
teachers and helped them with all classes for the first time around, but the
teachers pretty much take it from there.

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...the fourth grade teachers have mother volunteers use PAWS keyboarding
program.  Kids only go once a week or once every other week.
The sixth graders get keyboarding once a week - Iteach it. It is hard to
keep them focused.  Some of them just don't want to take the time to learn
how to type properly.
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Keyboarding is taught in our k-6 school by the computer lab teacher andis
taught in 4th grade.  They do very well, but we have found that if they do
(sic) have practice almost every day they get rusty.  Our fifth and sixth
graders have lost most of the speed they learned in 4th because they do not
have computer all year.

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We use a kid-type typing program which isfun and they come for 3 half hour
sessions per week for the duration of one school term.,snip. while we do not
claim to haveproduced expert secretaries we did aim to teach them that one
must use all fingers, that there are certain fingers for certain keys and
that if you learn to do this you will be able to work faster.
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I don't think it will hurt teachers or kids to skip music or art for 6 weeks
or so if time is needed to teach basic keyboarding skills.
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I have seen this discussion play itself out in a couple of school districts.
 In one of them, thedirector of curriculum told the third grade teachers
they could take out some element of their current curriculum to fit
keyboarding in -- they were not able to make a decision about this, even to
cut down on theamount of time on cursive writing or to accept eliminating
copying arithmetic problems from the text books! (Paraphrase> Did teach
keyboarding by incorporating it into a research project.  Did not train as
transcriptionists. Using correct finger was less important than two hands.
It's a different thing to teach for compostion than to teach for
transcription.
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Thanks for all the quick responses.  And you will see as I post this
I have another plea for help.

Cheryl
csturgeo@ohio.net