I've tried various software titles at a couple of different schools trying to find a good solution to help young people learn keyboarding (how to type). Perhaps my favorite software though the years has been the Type to Learn (TTL) series by Sunburst. I'm at a new school now and we don't have TTL, but rather a different software application by a different company. I'll hold off on mentioning the product and just say that I am less than thrilled. I was getting ready to propose a software acquisition to the Principal when I met up with a fellow technology teacher at a nearby elementary school. We had met during technology meetings at the district office and he works at the same school as my wife. We had chatted and he invited me over to take a look at how he runs things in his computer lab (thanks again Bill!). I picked up many great things from Bill that afternoon; however the most immediate impact was made by the keyboarding website he shared with me. The site focuses on teaching students good posture and home keys. It then goes step by step and explicitly teaches which fingers strike which keys. The site is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/flash/stage1.shtml
I'd be pleased if you all would check it out and let me know what you think. If you know of any better sites please comment and share. I'm thinking this might be a good solution for us and we may not need to purchase software after all. Thanks much!
Keyboarding site!
I am currently a student at Indiana-University Bloomington studying to be an elementary education teacher. I took the time to check out this website and I think this is a great program. It reminds me a lot of keyboarding programs that I have dealt with throughout my student career. The only thing I think you might have to be careful with is the grade level you are using this for. I think the whole rock n roll theme would be great for lower levels, however when you get up to 4th and 5th graders they may feel that it is a little childish. However, I think the step by step instruction is great!