Contents:
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What's New
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New Exercises for Younger
Children and Students with Special Needs
We've
recently added a number of basic and intermediate exercises designed for younger children and children with special
needs. These
include simple 1 to 4 word
typing
exercises, simple rhyming words and poems, basic sentences,
and other topics. All of the new exercises also
include pictures.
Students will find the new
exercises located in the Tests and Exercises section
of the web site (click on "Tests and Exercises"
after logging in.) Teachers may also assign
these exercises from the teacher/administrator
account by clicking on the "Assign Exercises"
command, choosing the students, and then browsing
the folder labeled "Exercises for Children".
Once exercises are assigned to students, the
students are required to take them after they log
in.
Goalie: Our New Typing Game
Goalie is our new fast-paced typing game,
with a soccer theme. As the goalie, your job is to
keep the balls from reaching the goal by typing the words
next to each ball. Points are earned for knocking
balls away, and points are subtracted for letting balls into
the goal. If you let too many balls into the goal,
you're out of the game.
Goalie features 10 skill levels
covering all levels of ability. This allows
the game to be enjoyed by young children, alternate
keyboard users,
experienced typists, and all levels in between.
If you currently have an account,
Goalie is already installed and available for you to
use (just click on the "games" link after logging
into a student account). If you don't have an
account, you can try out a free demo of the game by
going to
www.customtyping.com and clicking on the "free demos"
link.
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Coming Soon
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We have a number of new features planned
for the first half of 2005. Upcoming enhancements
include a new "computer guided" mode, in which the web site
itself will provide additional guidance to the students on
how best to work on improving their skill. We're also
planning to add the ability to create multiple-choice
quizzes for your students. This will be similar to our
trivia game, but will allow you to create your own
questions and record your students progress. The web
site will record which questions were answered correctly, as
well as what the typing speed was. The use of quizzes
will provide an opportunity to integrate other classroom
curriculum and measurement of outcomes with typing training.
As with all of our new features, existing
subscribers will receive these upgrades at no charge.
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When Should Keyboarding Instruction Begin?
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While there is no universal
consensus, much research has shown that the optimum
time to begin formal keyboarding instruction is
around the third or fourth grade. Students at
earlier ages generally do not have the physical
skills (such as hand reach and hand-eye
coordination) needed to work on proper technique.
However, this doesn't mean that students shouldn't
be exposed to some basic computer activity prior to
this age. Even preschool students can learn to
use a mouse to point and click, and building
familiarity at an early age makes the transition to
formal keyboarding instruction much easier.
Providing keyboarding training in the
mid-elementary years also sets the stage for good
keyboarding habits to develop early on and remain with the
student. If formal training is delayed, students who
frequently use the computer will tend to develop the
traditional "hunt and peck" habit. If the hunt and
peck method becomes too ingrained in a student, then it will
be more difficult to teach that student the correct
technique later on.
Some studies have reported side benefits of formal keyboarding instruction.
These include improvement in reading comprehension,
spelling and punctuation skills, mathematical
computation, and hand-eye coordination.
Additionally, the studies have shown that
handwriting skills do not suffer as a result of
keyboarding training.
Links and
References:
Teaching Keyboarding: When? Why? How? (Education
World)
Keyboarding Skills: When Should They Be Taught?
(Education World)
Buhler USD 313 - Keyboarding Task Force Report
Keyboarding and Your Child: Keys to Success
Keyboarding Research and Resources
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Not Yet a Subscriber?
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You can learn more about our service, and
also sign up for a free trial for your school, by going to
www.customtyping.com
and clicking on the schools link.
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news_admin@customsolutions.us.
To see past newsletters, go to
www.customsolutions.us/news. For further information about our products
and services, visit us online at
www.customsolutions.us. |
