Teaching Keyboarding

Learning Principles - General Relevant Interaction Active participant Knows goal Progress Expanding behaviors High level

Learning Principles - Keyboarding Psychomotor skill Immediate knowledge of results Skill development Transfer of learning Understand goals Distributed practice vs. massed practice Individual needs

Need for Keyboarding Skills “The ability to use computers to perform everyday tasks will be the most important job skill in the 1990’s” Word processing skills and computer literacy enhance success in writing and college achievement Taking a keyboarding course “significantly improve[s] both their post-school employability and earnings”

Equipment Computers/Typewriters Stand Alone/Networked Computers Regular/Split Keyboards

At What Grade Level Should Keyboarding Be Taught? Fourth grade 30 hours of instruction to use correct fingers Not expected to key without watching fingers

Why Elementary Children? Use keyboard Develop poor patterns Develop attitude Become more efficient Reinforce writing and editing skills

Who Should Teach Elementary Keyboarding? Regular classroom teacher Elementary teacher assigned keyboarding Certified business teacher at elem school Business teacher released part of day/year Support person within school Community volunteer Students learn on own from software

National Standards (NBEA) Difficult to locate (p. 85 & 41) Proper input techniques Numeric data Features of keyboards Basic keyboarding

Keyboard Presentation Home-Row Method First-Finger-First Method Skip-Around Method Numbers and Symbols

Typical Lesson Presentation Machine Adjustments Objectives Warmup Drills and Exercises Keys Skill Measurement

Madeline Hunter’s Method Develop anticipatory set State objectives Provide instructional input Model ideal behavior Check for comprehension Provide guided practice Provide independent practice Achieve closure

Accuracy Early Accuracy Correct Posture Correct Stroking Steady Pace Error Tolerance

Speed Attainment Timed Every Day Observations Fatigue

Conducting Demonstrations Students typing or talking Location, location, location Demonstration machine Necessary materials Follow a routine

Teaching Proofreading Read copy slowly twice Work in pairs Classifications

Teacher Observation Watch for – moving heads – bobbing shoulders – massaging – keystroking Feedback – No feedback – General directional feedback – Explicit directional feedback

Teaching Tips Allow students to look Provide feedback and reinforcement Use transparencies for evaluation Provide guidance and move to confirmation Understand kinesthesis Provide real examples

Motivation Encouraging vs. discouraging remarks Don’t overuse verbal praise Be careful with competition Vary incentives Allow students to set personal goals Reinforcement - where they are and reward

REMEMBER You make a difference in your students’ lives You can motivate or make them hate class