Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Keyboarding Tools on the Web - 2015 update

"Way back" in March of 2013, we posted our original Keyboarding tools on the web to support CC stds! It seemed like the time to circle back and update it. Here's our revised Keyboarding Tools on the Web for 2015 post.

Before school lets out is a great time to get your kids practicing typing skills. As a minimum, give them a couple of these sites to practice over the summer! Great way to kill time and learn/enhance a skill they will need now and in the future!

Keyboarding is referenced (often) in Common Core standards. For instance, keyboarding is called out in:

W.3.6. With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

W.6.6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting. W.4.6. W.5.6. are similar - one page (4th) , and two pages (5th) in a single sitting.

I pulled the above from Qwertytown.com (yes, I double checked the standards directly). Several people responding to our original post have made many positive comments about qwertytown, and it continues to be a top recommendation. It's not free, but there is a free trial available.

Here are several other excellent keyboarding resources to consider:

Typing Web - Programs to learn typing (free registration to save progress) - at my prior school, this was the favorite. Good practice, and the progress tracking is really nice.


Key Hero Typing Test - No log on required but you CAN do so to save work.

Dance Mat typing -Good for all ages! This is one of the most 'fun' for students and consistently mentioned by many.

Typing tests - can be customized from simple to hard.

E-learning for kids - Fun games!

Fix the Keyboard - Good game for learning key location. In general, ABCya.com has several keyboard practice games for grades K-5 that look fun and engaging; need to hunt around a bit but they are there.

Here are two other recommended resources:

Typing Club is an easy to use Google Chrome app. Teachers are able to track the students' progress in terms of accuracy and speed.

Slimekids.com - mentioned by a few of our readers as a fun way to learn typing skills.

What do YOU use or recommend for either web-based or tablet keyboarding/typing apps? Please comment!

1 comment:

SWood said...

We've use Dance Mat TYping for our K-2 students especially the 2nd graders. Our 3-8 grade have used Typing Web. With the new up-dates this year, it's even a more robust program. You get excellent reports, easy data base for setting up classes, and longitudinal data to track progress.

There is not a program available that will be effective without teacher monitoring for correct finger placement. More and more students are coming in already using incorrect placement due to all the tech they have at home. My 5 and 3 year old grandchildren have had an iPad since they were born and know how to navigate! They haven't had access to the QWERTY keyboard yet and probably won't until they begin school.

Peter Jennings typed 95 words per minute with two fingers, so the best we can do, is put a good program at their fingertips, monitor their keyboarding, encourage them to do their best and that finger placement is important.

We've had success with Typing Web and appreciate that it's free and up-dated with new features each year!