Keyboarding

Typing on a keyboard is still a crucial skill for students to learn. Keyboarding means the muscles in the hand are involved in typing; the student feels his or her way through the activity instead of using the eyes as a guide.

Children will often benefit from studying keyboarding alongside learning how to read. That’s because in a multi-sensory course, such as Touch-type Read and Spell, the learning process reinforces phonics. Students hear an audio played aloud, see the letter or word on the screen and then type it.

This helps them with the sound-letter mapping required for decoding and spelling. It also reinforces sight-reading skills through repetitive drills of high frequency vocabulary.

In later grades, school assignments become longer and it is often a requirement that written work be typed. Writing on the computer can actually improve a student’s skills because the process becomes more fluent as ideas flow freely through the fingertips and onto the screen.

Mistakes are easier to correct and re-write and working in drafts is more convenient. University students and researchers will benefit from taking electronic notes in class. Even adults who are returning to school can use touch typing to help develop spelling, literacy and computer skills. Last but not least, homework assignments, group work and sitting standardized exams are all facilitated.

In fact, computer testing is one reason why keyboarding should be considered an essential skill for all students to learn at school. The faster a student can type, the more time they can devote to improving the quality of their response and answering the rest of the exam’s questions.

TPS starts keyboard instruction in early childhood as a part of learning letters. The instruction is scaffolded as students move into elementary school. See the lists below for apps and websites to assist in the process.