It likely comes as no surprise that children’s first exposure to keyboards comes well before they enter elementary school. In 2017, children up to age eight spent an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes every day on screen media. Virtually every household has a smartphone or tablet in the home, with 45% of all children having their own mobile device!
Continue reading Why Typing is Key to Success on Standardized Tests
Every student has unique needs, and it can be a challenge to meet those for any school. In virtual schools, however, the unique needs of individual students combine in a dizzying array of diversity. In a recent article for District Administration , VirtualSC Curriculum Coordinator Deirdre Edwards explained how they met those needs for nearly 30,000 students in the 2018-2019 academic year alone.
Continue reading How a Virtual School Meets the Needs of Diverse Learners
What could be better than classrooms full of students playing their way to typing mastery? How about entire schools and districts playing their way to typing mastery! Two million users play TypeTastic games each month, and now we’ll bring students, teachers, and administrators together with powerful new tools that turn TypeTastic into a truly district-wide solution.
Continue reading The New TypeTastic Combines Fun and Games with District-Level Management
By Dr. Wendy Thompson
Keyboarding is an essential office skill but, as I wrote in a previous blog, for my students with special needs, it also opens doors to communication with other people. I’ve found that for my students, developing typing skills through engaging keyboarding practice can be a conduit to expanded use of technology, along with greater academic opportunities and achievement.
Continue reading How Engagement in Typing Instruction Opens Doors to Tech
By Alan Gielen
Like most people, I enjoy some variety in life. A large reason I switched from teaching biology to being a technology teacher is because the latter allows me to teach a range of subjects, topics, and grades. My students like variety, too, so I make sure we cover disparate topics and skills within the confines of standards and curricular requirements.
Continue reading Variety is the Key to Teaching 21st-Century Skills
By Demetra Adams
As the computer science and technology teacher, it’s my responsibility to ensure each of our students is prepared to use the devices that will be available to them throughout their academic careers at Collins-Rhoades Elementary School. Our students have access to desktops, laptops, and iPads. In grades K–5, they use each nearly every day, so there’s a lot to learn from day one.
Continue reading Why Typing and Mousing Are Essential for a Tech-Rich Education
How common are keyboarding classes in American schools?
That’s a difficult question to answer, as there don’t seem to be any surveys or other research looking into the question—and many schools fold typing instruction into other classes such as computer science, digital literacy, or business. And yet, more and more children are expected to know how to type. The Common Core State Standards, for example, require that students in 4th grade be able “to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.” By 6th grade, that requirement increases to three pages in a sitting.
Continue reading 4 Tips for Incorporating Keyboarding into Any Classroom
By Helen Xiong
In a 1:1 computing district, it’s important to make sure students begin developing solid computing skills, from the nuts and bolts of typing to the more abstract concepts of digital safety, from the time they start their educational careers. One of my favorite ways to keep my students engaged and motivated is by incorporating games and creativity into the classroom whenever and wherever I can.
Continue reading Teaching Early Elementary Tech with Games and Creativity
By Dr. Wendy Thompson
In many classrooms, typing instruction is an opportunity for students to practice and improve an important skill. In my classroom, it’s part crucial component in helping my students communicate and part assistive technology.
Continue reading When Typing Is an Essential Communication Skill
