elem keyboarding

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For More Information:

Keyboarding Cornucopia: Successful Strategies for Teaching Keyboarding

Leigh Zeitz

http://www.keyboardingresearch.org

http://www.keyboardingresearch.org/

Keyboarding is . . .

a set of cumulative psychomotor skills involving the touch method of input to a keyboard.

It’s More than that . . .

Keyboarding is a gateway to using a computer efficiently and effectively.

Plan for Today

Review Keyboarding Issues When keyboarding should be taught How keyboarding should be taught Playground Keyboarding Program

– In the Computer Lab– In Physical Education– In the Classroom

Facts

85% of elementary classrooms have

computers.

77% elementary schools have computer labs

24% of 6 - 11 year olds have home

computers.

Facts

ISTE NETSGrades 3 - 5

Use keyboards . . . Efficiently and effectively

At least 4 states require keyboarding at the 5th grade (TX, NY, VA, MN)

Side Benefits

Builds Enthusiasm for WritingTexas Guidelines

Improve Spelling (3rd/4th grade)

Hoot, 1986

Improved reading and vocabulary

Hoot, 1986, Wronkovich, 1998

Grade Level?

3rd grade– Bartholme, 1996; Instructional Resource of Curr/Instr

Div of Saskatchewan Education, 1991; Pisha, 1993; Starr, 2001

4th grade– Erthal (1998); Hopkins (1998)

5th grade– MacIntyre, 1990; Wronkovich, 1998

Not in Elementary– Waner, Behymer, & McCrary, 1992

Issues

Manual Dexterity Cognitive Development Attention Span Reading Ability Curriculum Placement

Manual Dexterity

Size– Need to be able to reach the keys

(Waner, Behymer, & McCrary, 1992)– Younger students spend more time on spelling than

correct finger placement. (Kahn and Freyd, 1990)– Typical keyboard is 11” x 5”.

Don’t wait until your students get bigger, Get smaller keyboards.

Little Fingers Keyboards

DataDesk Technologies http://www.data-desk.com $50 - 70

20% smaller

9” x 3”10.5” x 4”

http://www.data-desk.com/

Manual Dexterity

Agility– Move fingers

independently– Problems with

middle & ring fingers– How many of your

students play the piano?

Portable Word Processors

Personal writing processor On-board keyboard instruction 116 preprogrammed lessons

– Technique Builder Homerow Individualizes progress reports Spell check/thesaurus http://www.keyboardinstructor.com $189

http://www.keyboardinstructor.com/

Portable Word Processors

Personal writing processor KeyWords applets Prints reports Enrolls up to 8 students http://www.alphasmart.com $199

http://www.alphasmart.com/

Attention Span

Not a factor in developing small movement skills (Wronkovich, 1998)

Attention span increases as students become more proficient. (Kaake, 1983)

Reading Ability

Typing is more than pressing buttons. Grouping letters into words. Reading creates a reason to type.

Curriculum

Keyboarding needs to support curriculum Teach keyboarding 1 year before . . .

– use keyboarding – computer applications (Texas Guidelines)

Where in the curriculum?– Teach independently (Bartholome, 1996)– Integrate as communication (Waner, Behymer,

& McCrary, 1992)

How Fast is Enough?

Upper elementary students write at– 11 wpm

Should be able to type faster than write Enter information into a dynamic writing

environment Allow for editing and revising

How long is the lesson?

Students typically receive < 10 hours– Sormunen, 1991

50 hours over 3 elementary years– Boone (ND)

35 minutes/day for 4 weeks– Robinson (1991)

Review periodically– 15 hours/year– Robinson (1992)

Once taught– Use, reinforce, and refine– Texas Guidelines, 1987; Adams, 1984; Wronkovich,

1998)

Hunt-Peck vs. Touch Typing

Familiarity important at young ages Build familiarity through

– 5-minute practice sessions (Kahn & Freyd, 1990)

– Use typing for writing (Kahn & Freyd, 1990)

– Playground Keyboarding

(Zeitz, 2003)

BUT Familiarity CAN Spawn Hunt-&-Peck

Relies too much on visual feedback Too much attention to fingers Builds bad habits

Can you teach familiarity w/o

a keyboard?

Familiarity w/o a Keyboard

Playground Keyboarding

Playground Keyboarding - In the Computer Lab

Experiment Layout– Two third grade classes

• One with playground keyboarding (experimental)

• One without playground keyboarding (control)

• Identical computer lab instruction• Connection between kinesthetic learning

and keyboarding achievement


Build familiarity with keyboarding– Develop habits of:

• Good posture• Keyboarding technique• Make keyboarding a reflexive response• Speed and accuracy will follow


Crucial first week– Lay foundation for safe and proper

keyboarding• Learn correct posture • Hand shape• Homerow orientation• Finger technique


Posture– Connected good keyboarding posture to

good batting stance– PowerPoint (link)

Ready, set, go!– Made it fun


Key familiarity– Air Typing (2 minutes each class)

• Used to introduce new keys• Looky Lou Keyboard


Textbook exercises– Practice– Review– Assess

• 60 seconds• Recorded on progress

report

Playground Keyboarding - In the Computer Lab Reinforcement

– 10% instruction, 90% reinforcement (Keyboard Instructor manual)

– N.O.P.E.C.K Bucks• Good posture, etc.• No peeking

– No Peeky Towel


No Peeky Towel– Forced them to not

look at keys– Helped develop

memory– Eliminated visual

cues


Scheduling– Shoot for four or five days a week

(Keyboard Instructor manual)

– We were able to do 2 days a week• 20 minutes each day• Not enough time


Results!– Mixed

Control Group– Increased 1.5 wpm from beginning

Experimental Group– Increased 1.8 wpm from beginning

Playground Keyboarding -In Physical Education

Lori Smith

Playground Keyboarding - In the Classroom

Aricia Beckman - PLS - 4th Grade

Keyboardinstructor.com

Happy Keyboarding

Keyboarding Research and Resources

http://www.keyboardingreseach.org

http://www.keyboardingreseach.org/