Why Typing Is Still Necessary

Many kids start using a keyboard long before they learn how to correctly 'touch' type. They usually 'hunt and peck' the keys for their fun learning or video games. Many also use cell phones to thumb type for texting.

Typing classes have fallen out of school curriculum forgetting the importance and necessity of correct fingering/touch typing. Touch typing allows us to 'write' without thinking about where to find the keys. We can freely focus on our ideas and our writing without double thinking to hunt and peck for the letters, thus sometimes allowing us to lose our train of thought. Cognitive automaticity is the ability to do things without conscious attention or awareness. Examples of cognitive automaticity are: riding a bike, driving a car, reading and touch typing. When we type without looking at the keys, we can write at the speed of thought without having to waste mental resources on trying to find the exclamation point.

Last, but not least, touch typing using the QWERTY keyboard is by far the fastest and most productive method to use for writing. It allows us to look at the screen and not our fingers. Hunting, pecking and thumbing are incredibly slower and average 40 wpm less than touch typing.

In Dig Lit, we spend approximately six days of touch typing practice on typingweb.com

400 hours = time of reflexed practice become a skilled typist.

600 hours = time of reflexed practice to become an expert typist.