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Touch Typing:
Written by Ms. Alyssa Soto
Published on 10/29/25
What’s Your WPM Average?
My younger sister loves to boast about how quickly she can text back, but she’s a lot slower when it comes to typing on her Chromebook. She has complained that if she were allowed to use her phone to complete her assignments instead of her Chromebook, she’d get her assignments done a lot quicker. While that may be true, I told her that she would have a better time developing her typing skills by learning touch typing.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What is Touch Typing?
What is Touch Typing?
Touch typing refers to the ability to type using all 10 fingers without looking at the keyboard. This was once a central skill taught in computer classes that has fallen a bit out of fashion these days.
The skill relies mostly on muscle memory and tactile feedback. You may have noticed that the F and J keys on your keyboard have a little bump on them. That bump was designed for touch-typers to easily find and return to the “home row” keys without looking at the keyboard. The "home row" refers to the center row of keys on the keyboard. Refer to the image below for those keys:
Touch typing can be performed on any standard English keyboard with a QWERTY layout. There may be a slight re-learning curve when switching between larger and smaller keyboards, but other than that, you'll find that touch typing makes completing assignments a breeze!
Is Touch Typing Still Relevant?
Is Touch Typing Still Relevant?
It absolutely is! Some job listings for office work and other clerical jobs require applicants to type at a minimum words-per-minute (WPM) average to be considered for the role or to be hired at a higher pay rate. The minimum requirement can be anywhere between 25-50 WPM. If you happen to be aiming for a job in web design, computer engineering, or cybersecurity, having a high WPM average will be critical in getting a leg up on other applicants.
Even if you aren’t looking for a clerical or other computer-related job, developing typing skills will still help you – especially in classes. Having a higher WPM average will allow you to type essays and test answers quicker and help you keep up with your teacher while typing notes in class.
What Resources Can I Use?
What Resources Can I Use?
There are many typing tools available for free online! Below is a list of programs that I’ve used over the years and tried out recently to recommend to you.
Level: Beginner
This website teaches touch typing from the ground up, showing you how to move your hands for each of the keys. It gamifies typing lessons by awarding you experience points and achievements for completing each section. This site also lets you set daily practice goals and creates lessons to practice keys you often mistype.
An account is required to use this website.
Level: Intermediate
This website offers a less gamified version of typing lessons. It holds your hand a bit less when it comes to learning to type new keys, but it allows more options for customization to tailor your learning experience to what suits you.
An account is not required to use this website, unless you want to save your progress and lesson preferences.
Level: Advanced
This tool focuses less on repetition exercises and more on typing words. It displays your keystrokes at the end of each section and slowly introduces new keys as you progress. I would not recommend this tool unless you have already learned the basics of touch typing in a class or through one of the previous websites on this list, as it does not explicitly guide you on hand movements.
An account is not required to use this website, unless you want to save your progress.
Level: All
Compete against others to see who can type the quickest! You can make game rooms to play with friends or join a random race to play against users online. This tool does not teach touch typing and is more of a fun game to see your progress.
An account is not required to use this website.
Practice Leads to Improvement
Practice Leads to Improvement
While texting may feel faster now, developing desktop typing skills will save time and boost productivity in the long run for your school life, work life, and personal life! (I see you, fanfic writers.)
The tools I mentioned here are really only the tip of the iceberg for what’s available to you. There are many others available online that you can try out! The best part is that this is a skill you can develop on your own time. There’s no pressure of an assignment deadline or letter grade to sap the fun and satisfaction out of it. So have fun with it, challenge yourself, and before you know it you’ll be typing up essays in the blink of an eye!
Desert Edge is part of the Agua Fria High School District Family of Schools
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