Blogs: Patsy Lanclos
Keys to the (Online) Kingdom: The Importance of Basic Computer Skills
By Patsy Lanclos
9/12/06
It may seem obvious, but one of the things I need to cover at my technology-training workshops is the basic what, why, and how of keyboarding. Without the basic ability to type quickly and accurately, getting your ideas and data into a computer can take a lot of time and can be frustrating. Who really wants to use the hunt-and-peck method of inputting data for the rest of their lives?
Sure, someday we may have foolproof voice-recognition software, which will eliminate the need for typing, but it's not readily available today. So, to use a computer with ease, being able to type is still an important skill. Once students learn to keyboard and learn basic word processing skills, the integration of the computer into all disciplines is much easier.
Technology skills outlined in the No Teacher Left Behind Act require that students be technology literate by the end of the eighth grade. Expectations are that students create reports on a word processor, use a spreadsheet for calculations, and use a presentation tool for demonstrating new knowledge. However, many students have never been taught the basics and continue to use the computer as if it were a typewriter.
Keyboarding should be taught in the early grades -- before students acquire bad habits. Free typing programs can be found on the Internet, and software packages can be purchased. The tried-and-true teacher-taught method -- the method by which most of us learned to keyboard -- is one way to ensure students learn to correctly input data.
While students are learning to keyboard, other basic skills can be taught, such as
- use of a mouse (click, double-click, left click, right/control click, click and drag)
- opening a new document.
- saving a document (proper naming and location for saving).
- standard fonts, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia, Comic Sans.
- appropriate size of font for print and presentations.
- one space after all punctuation, including periods.
- alignment (left, center, right).
- printing.
- closing a document and an application.
As students become comfortable with these basics, other skills can be taught. Many skills can be incrementally learned in the third and fourth grades. The left and right margins in Microsoft Word by default are unusually wide; therefore, students should be taught to change the margins (and even reset the default, if desired).
Another underused function of the computer is the setting of tabs. To get from one place to another place on a page, many times students will consecutively press the space bar or the preset tab. Because the typewriter had only one kind of tab, the different kinds of tabs on a computer (left, right, center, decimal) are little known. Students must be given examples of when each of these tabs are used, such as
- left tab: indentation of a paragraph.
- Center tab: in headers/footers and certain kinds of poetry.
- right tab: in headers/footers and to place the name, date at top of paper.
The proper use of font styles are also important. For example, underlining on a computer is discouraged because the underline token breaks a font descender (for example, the word young). The bold style is more commonly used for headings. The italics style, not the underline, is used to denote book titles and the like.
Once a student has learned to click and drag the mouse, the commands to copy, cut, and paste, as well as the use of the delete (and backspace) keys, can be taught. Other useful skills include, but are not limited to,
- undo and redo typing.
- bullets and numbering.
- headers and footers, including page numbering.
- tables.
Other word processing skills, such as columns, breaks, sections, borders, and word count, can be taught in middle school.
Read another post of mine, which answers many of your questions and gives links to free resources on keyboarding and word processing skills.
Comments
Keyboarding is a skill that I teach in our elementary school computer lab to 3rd and 4th graders. It is the only skill that I teach in isolation. All other computer skills are integrated into projects that support the curriculum. Beginning in first grade, students use the computers for curriculum-embedded projects developed collaboratively with the classroom teacher.
I am a grade 7-8 keyboarding/technology teacher.
I agree with most of the above. Keyboarding is a great endeavour for middle school students for many reasons. One, they learn a valuable skill that is very manageable at their level and they gain the confidence of doing something well. Two, they get to use their hands to do something at least once a day. Three, they are usually already typing, but incorrectly, so learning to keyboard properly requires them to get outside their comfort zone and take a risk. It is also a good class for kids who don't necessarily excel in the academic classes, but can be quite adept at keyboarding.
One concern I have is the standard requiring spreadsheets by eighth grade. In my experience, the whole spreadsheet concept is a little too abstract for the middle school brain. Some kids get it, but most are not able to get beyond simple data entry. The notions of formulas, copying formulas, etc. just doesn't make sense to them at this level. I think time in a tech class for middle schoolers is far better spent on presentation software, multimedia, and basic internet skills (both researching and staying safe).
I agree, kids need to be taught at an early age how to use the computer because these days technology is taking over the classroom. Also, on the other hand though, being an elementary school these days is more like being in middle school. Children are learning how to speak spanish starting in 1st grade. I remember the my days in elementary school when we learned the basics that prepared me for middle school, but its not like that anymore and I believe that it takes away from the children learning to be social. Elementary school is not only a place of learning academics but also social skills. Many friendships are formed in elementary and the social part of their life starts to become bigger. To just keep adding more and more academics to elementary takes away from that. So in ways i'm split, it would help for them to learn the computer skills such as basic typing, but when are we going to stop adding more and more requirements for children at such a young age. I didn't learn how to type until i was in 7th grade and I now am a computer whiz.
Your article will be reprinted and posted by many technology instructors. Community members in the technology industry are not aware of best teaching practices and often suggest curriculum pacing that will be detrimental to underlying skill development. Keyboarding is a gateway skill. We are handicapping students by not providing instruction and guidance.
I have an observation - and to be honest a belief - concerning keyboard speed. It is linked very closely to the ability to spell. If a child has very poor spelling - they are not able to type words or thoughts, but only individual symbols. Now my question, do we have any research examining possible improvement in spelling and therefore reading levels - as a result of keyboarding practice? I'd be interested in knowing. Thanks for the encouraging article.
This is my first year to teach keyboarding. I know this is an important skill and so many parents are thankful that my school offers this 9 week course to 6th graders. But what do you do for the students who don't catch on as fast as the others. I don't want my students to be bored while we are waiting on a few studedents to finish a lesson.
Can you also give me some ideas to maybe make it more exciting?
Hallelujah, from an Elementary School (K-6) Technology Specialist. When I graduated from high school 12 years ago 2 things happened there; keyboarding became a requirement (I took it senior year) andthey began using computers for keyboarding instead of electric typewriters. Since I have been teaching in the same district I graduated from, they have moved the requirement from High to Middle School and the Middle School promptly dropped it on the lap of the Elementary School
I have been trying to teach keyboarding for the whole of my 7 years here. I have finally gotten a server, network Type to Learn software and eager kids. I am still working with all 3-6 graders, as I only just got it all going last year.
I tell them all the time that they will thank me when they get to high school (and I have had some come back to sing my praises). They watch me type and are so impressed but I have some trouble getting them to realize it isn't just from years of practice, it is from learning and do it right when I did. I have used the "skins" (thin plastic opaque covers) and taken them away. I have those who tell me they "can't do it", when they have never really tried. But then I have others who can almost out pace me. Who do you think gets their papers done faster?
I have been criticized by (mostly) school board members and parents who think I should be teaching more advanced topics (programming for example). "Who needs keyboarding?" asked the dad/school board member who wants me to teach programming. I have printed out your article to show him.
We also do word processing, presentations, Internet safety, digital imaging, and fun stuff. They are 12 and under, how much do they really need to learn now?
I couldn't agree with you more, Patsy! I teach basic keyboarding skills at the community college level and encounter frustrated students on a daily basis who are pecking away at the keyboard with two fingers and have little or no mouse skills. The hardest habit to break for someone who has been using a computer for any length of time is to not look at the keyboard. It's very difficult to build speed when you're constantly looking back and forth between the keyboard and the copy.
Two days ago I had a "student" who is a medical doctor (from India), mid-fiftites who is taking our keyboarding/word processing course because he knows nothing about computers and has never used one. I find it difficult to understand how he has made it this far! I suppose he has had a staff to do all the paper work up to this point. I'm assuming he now wants to begin using a tablet to record his patient's history while he is examining them. He is experiencing a great deal of frustration at just mastering the basics of using a mouse and understanding how a computer works. I will suggest voice recognition software to him as an alternative because he doesn't have much time to devote to practicing keyboarding and learning basic application software.
The important thing about keyboarding is not the conventions of tabs or how to use a mouse. I mean really, how long does it take students to learn to open a new document?
The far more important issue is one of keyboarding _safety_. Students need to learn to type so as to avoid wrist injury as much as they can. Posture and hand positioning are far more important than speed or accuracy which are only important on a typewriter.
I would really hate, however, to see educational technology reduced to teaching students a series of office worker competencies. Technology can be far, far richer and more beneficial than that.
As an workplace skills instructor for 18-21 year olds, I find keyboarding to be an indispensable tool for employment. Many of our clients want "office jobs", but they do not know the basics of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and E-mail, which are required skills for most positions, even warehouse and mailroom jobs. I am encouraged to hear that keyboarding is being taught in Middle School, but I would suggest that the basic eye/hand coordination of learning the keyboard can be taught as early as third or fourth grade.
Teaching keyboarding works for me too, Bonnie.
Deborah Frederick
My middle students have just begun their computer math (goal: Math Olympiad) class with a keyboarding software program. Their initial test scores were 5 wpm and our class goal is 25 wpm. Think about that -- the human brain travels so much faster than 5 wpm that slow keyboarding will frustrate these students. Until this necessary skill improves, their chances of winning an online math competition are slim, even with correct answers and quick solution times. And these kids are going to be winners!