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Teaching Keyboarding Today and Tomorrow: The Difference Begins With Technology

Interviews with Real Teachers: Benefits of Online Keyboarding

Interviews with Real Teachers: Help Beginning Keyboarding Students Excel

Teaching Keyboarding Today and Tomorrow
The Difference Begins With Technology
Dr. Jack E. Johnson, Director of Business Education for the Department of Management and Business Systems, State University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA

The impact of technology on the teaching of keyboarding has been evident since the early 1960's when electricity catapulted the manual typewriter into the electronic era. But only in the past few years has new technology dramatically transformed how we teach keyboarding. Taken together, these innovations have propelled keyboarding into an arena quite different from the keyboarding classroom of years past.

• New Key Introduction – In the typewriting classroom of the past, teachers demonstrated the new key reach while students observed, and an overhead transparency of a keyboard would typically reinforce the location of that new key. With today's software, students are also exposed to an audio and video demonstration of that new key reach through their keyboarding software. When teaching the new key drill lines, the software is capable of forcing students to make the correct reach by "locking down" if an incorrect reach has been attempted.
  
  
• Proofreading Capabilities – One of the most tedious, time-consuming tasks confronted by a keyboarding teacher was the proofreading of student work–drill lines, timed writings, production work–to see if any typographical errors had been made. Documents created in today's classroom must still be proofread, but that task is now performed by keyboarding software. Teachers must continue to check a document's format, but all the typographical errors–misspelled words, extra characters, and missing characters–are identified by the software.
  
  
• Reporting Features – In years past, students had to rely on hardcopy printouts to view the work they had created and then edit that work if necessary. One of the most welcome features of today's keyboarding software is a program's ability to store the student's work so that it can be viewed, edited, printed, or analyzed by the student or the teacher at any time after the work was first created. Typically, all documents are stored in a disk file where they can be accessed upon demand.
  
  
• Skillbuilding Drills – In keyboarding textbooks without a software component, students were limited to typing the drill lines for a particular day's assignment. With today's software, students can access an unlimited supply of skillbuilding routines such as 12-second sprints, 30-second timed writings, pretest/practice/posttest routines, diagnostic practice, and paced practice routines. In addition, these drills can be accessed at any point in any lesson throughout the course simply by clicking on the appropriate drill from the skillbuilding routines listed in the software.
  
  
• Gradebook Feature – Recording students' grades in a traditional keyboarding class was a continuing challenge because of the numerous scores that had to be recorded: skillbuilding activities, timed writings, typed documents, technique, etc. Teachers had to manually place all of these scores into a gradebook to determine a student's progress. These scores must still be considered in today's keyboarding classes. The difference, however, is that the software can automatically calculate a student's grade based on criteria determined by the teacher. Teachers can now select which activities to grade, which categories should be evaluated (i.e., technique, timed writings, progress checks, tests, daily work, etc.), and what percetages should be assigned to each of the categories. The actual grade is then calculated automatically by the keyboarding software.
  
  

The differences between keyboarding and typewriting will continue to expand as technology becomes even more advanced. It can be difficult to predict all of the different kinds of enhancements that will develop. However, based on software features that have been introduced thus far, some of the following changes appear likely:

• Advanced Diagnostics – Keyboarding software will be more capable of diagnosing student errors and prescribing appropriate drills to minimize those errors.
  
  
• Advanced Documents – Keyboarding students will be expected to learn more advanced document preparation skills–such as the use of templates, styles, and macros–primarily because these features will become commonplace in the instructional software.
  
  
• Advanced Capabilities – The differences between keyboarding, word processing, and desktop publishing software will blur because of the enhanced capabilities of features in each of these individual programs that overlap one another.
  
  
• Advanced Editing – Although there will be a continuing need for vocational speed and accuracy skills, students will see an increased demand for their editing skills on documents that have been prepared by others.
  
  

As these and other innovations enter the keyboarding classroom, the process of teaching keyboarding will continue to evolve. Keyboarding programs will continue to ease the burden of administrative tasks on teachers so that they can focus on teaching their students.

Interviews with Real Teachers: Benefits of
Online Keyboarding
Alice Vetter teaches Keyboarding, Digital Design, Accounting, and MOS preparation at Napavine High School in Napavine, Washington. She has been a teacher for 37 years. This is Ms. Vetter's first year using WebKey Express, an online keyboarding program from Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

Question: What are the benefits of teaching
keyboarding online?
Alice: The main benefit is that students are able to work at their own pace and ability level. They can spend extra time practicing the keys that are difficult for them rather than having to keep up with a class. Students have immediate feedback that is broken down into errors made, accuracy, and speed. They can determine where they need more practice immediately.

Secondly, students are able to work at home in addition to at school. Although keyboarding is a formal class in the regular school day, I allow and encourage students to work at home. I do this for a variety of reasons. Some students need to have extra practice just to learn the keyboard. Other students have been absent and are able to make up the time they missed without having to stay after school. Students who already know the keyboard when they come to class can work on speed and accuracy at their own pace.

Another benefit is the amount of paper saved since all the grading and record keeping is done online. Imagine each student in class using just one sheet of paper per day. Then multiply that number by the number of keyboarding classes. The amount of paper saved is tremendous.

Question: Is it more difficult to teach proper techniques in an online keyboarding class and if so, how do you
address it?
Alice: I don't think it is any more difficult. I still watch the students daily as they are working to make sure they are using proper techniques such as sitting properly, keeping their eyes on the copy and not looking at their hands, etc. They get used to watching the monitor as they type and transfer easily to text after we have finished the data input practice.

Question: How do you feel online keyboarding caters to the different ability levels of your students?
Alice: Each student is able to work at a pace which best suits his or her ability and skill level. The student can concentrate on the key or keys causing problems rather than having to work on the same material as every other student in class. Today students come to keyboarding with many different ability levels. Students feel successful even if they are the slowest student in a class because they are working to learn, not to compete with another student.

Question: What differences do you see in student assessment and grading between traditional and online keyboarding classes?
Alice: I see very little difference between the two other than the immediate feedback online keyboarding offers. Students can run the Build Report and check their work. I require 80% accuracy. They can immediately see if they met standards or if they need to redo their work. From the report they can also check their speed. Students can determine the keys that slow them down and need extra practice.

Question: What backup plans do you have on days when there may be a problem with the Internet or server?
Alice: Fortunately, we seldom have internet or server problems. However, I would have the students plan an activity that could be completed when the internet or server problems were solved. One activity I have used is to have them plan a presentation showcasing a career, such as automotive body work, that is not normally associated with computer usage. They would need to show ways in which a person doing automotive body work would have to use a computer and keyboard in their job.

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Interviews with Real Teachers: Help Beginning Keyboarding Students Excel
Ann Rosborough has been teaching Keyboarding and Computer Applications for nine years. She is the Instructional Technology Department Chair at Decatur Middle School in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Question: What do you consider the most difficult aspect of teaching keyboarding?
Ann: My most common problem is the one–finger pecking method that will exist until voice recognition software becomes the norm. Now that students are on the computers at such an early age, it has become more difficult because you are trying to break them of bad habits. In my opinion, it was easier to work with students that had never touched a keyboard before. With students being on the computer for entertainment purposes, it can be hard to get them to focus on efficiency.

Question: How do you handle different ability levels in your beginning keyboarding classes?
Ann: We use a couple of different typing Web sites to assess a student's ability. As students reach 90% efficiency and a Words Per Minute goal, students are allowed to progress on to a different level or keystroke. The process requires a lot of monitoring and observation. You just have to evaluate each student, set a goal with that student, and try to motivate him/her to want to reach it.

Question: How do you break the "hunt and peck" habit that many students bring to your beginning keyboarding class?
Ann: Constant nagging! A lot of times I have the students cover their hands with a hand towel. It forces them not only to look up, but to really memorize the key strokes. They hate it at first and many become very frustrated, but as they improve it becomes easier.

Question: Keyboarding requires a lot of repetitive skill building. What type of activities and/or games do you use to keep your students motivated?
Ann: Keeping them motivated in keyboarding is extremely difficult. I usually keep an observation chart that has each day of the week on it. If a student is trying to improve for the day, I give them a check. On Friday, if a student has checks for the week I let them play a typing game on FreeTypingGame.net. I am not particularly fond of typing games, because sometimes they hurry and lose technique. I still try to walk around and remind them to type correctly.

Question: If a student finishes a lesson early, what do they do for the remainder of the class period?
Ann: My school combines keyboarding and computer applications into one class, so students type until we move on to other computer projects. It is nice to have both combined, because I can still go around and remind them to maintain proper technique as they are working on other projects.

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