Keyboarding for Students
With the advent of online testing, it is important that students be keyboarding. In a Washington Post article by Lyndsey Layton,entitled "Elementary students learn keyboard typing ahead of new Common Core tests," published on October 13th, she states:
"The Common Core standards make frequent references to technology skills, stating that students in every grade should be able to use the Internet for research and use digital tools in their schoolwork to incorporate video, sound and images with writing.
But the standardized tests linked to the Common Core make those expectations crystal clear because the exams — which will be given in 2014-2015 — require students to be able to manipulate a mouse; click, drag and type answers on a keyboard; and, starting in third grade, write online...Jaqui Murray, a California teacher who writes the popular Ask A Tech Teacher blog. “It’s a huge deal. You can’t have kids go into these tests and not do well because they can’t keyboard.”
How Important is Keyboarding?
"Children must learn touch typing — the ability to compose text without looking at keys — so they can focus on their writing, said Kathleen Regan, the director of curriculum and instruction at New Jersey’s Glen Rock Public Schools. She calls it a “fluency skill” akin to memorizing the multiplication tables in order to more quickly perform complex mathematics.."
While schools may be teaching touch typing because of the Common Core tests, the ability to use a keyboard is an important life skill, said Cathy Turner, a technology teacher at an elementary school in Greenville, S.C., who runs the computer lab used by 600 students every week at Welcome Elementary School.“A lot of jobs out there require keyboarding,” said Turner, mentioning that many service
industry positions require computer use. “They need it for real life. We are becoming such a computerized world, and technology is changing constantly. For us to keep up with other countries, we have to get a move on it.”
What About Voice Recognition Software such as Apple's Siri?
Jaqui Murray, the technology teacher and blogger quoted above, wonders how long it will take for new technology, such as voice recognition, to make typing obsolete. She mentioned Siri, the voice recognition software on Apple’s mobile products, as an example.
“I use Siri on the phone and iPad, but it’s not good enough yet,” Murray said. “When that starts getting better, look out. That’s really going to change things. Again.”
But until then, we have to prepare our students for exams and life by teaching them the life skill of keyboarding.
Free Keyboarding Sites
Prep and High School Levels