RE: [info-tech] Fwd:Keyboarding

[Kurt McKenney]

Ok, a couple of comments if I may…   The biggest problem kids in the second or third grade would likely have learning typing is a matter of scale. Keyboards are built for adult hands. People might want to consider that when they talk about what age keyboarding should be taught at. Perhaps phonics and basic math skills would be a better thing to teach at that age.   Lowering standards has never produced better results; it’s just given us more reasons to lower standards.   Telling me that a kid can only write at 10 words per minute is not a problem with keyboarding, it’s a problem with creativity. Teach a little more creativity, and they should be able to write faster. The reason for teaching a kid to type at 25 wpm or more is that any job that requires a typing test is going to require that minimum, giving a kid an A if they can type 10 words a minute is a disservice to the kid.   As stated, the dvorak keyboard would make typing faster. It is the most efficient layout and the qwerty keyboard was designed actually to slow typing down so the mechanical arms would not lock together. However, yes, it is not practical to convert all keyboards to the dvorak style, but what is practical and possible is implementing ergonomic keyboards so we can keep these kids from getting carpal tunnel syndrome before they graduate. This may become a legal issue before long as we seem to be moving the recommended curriculum over to a computer based format which will require more and more time spent typing.   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nancy Movall Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 10:43 AM To: info-tech@aea8.k12.ia.us Subject: [info-tech] Fwd:Keyboarding   FYI... Begin forwarded message: From: Steve Linduska <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Some research from some folks at ISU followed by some suggestions regarding teaching keyboarding. Hope this provides some assistance. .pdf attached -- Steve Linduska Instructional Technology Consultant Heartland AEA 11 [EMAIL PROTECTED]