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What Can We Gain From Typing Fast on a Keyboard?

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Teachers Typing Speed

Kids LOVE to ask “why?”

Why is the sky blue?

Why do we have to learn this?

Why can’t the dog sit at the table?

Part of their consistent demands of “why?” come from curiosity. Another part stems from a desire to understand the logic behind what goes on around them.

We often tell students that it’s important to improve their typing skills or learn to touch type, but we don’t always tell them why.

And we should, because understanding why touch typing is important will help boost motivation and get kids on board when it comes time to practice.

So here I’ve put together a list of top reasons for why learning to type faster is such an important skill.

Benefits of Increasing Typing Speed

Saves You Time

The most obvious reason to increase your typing speed is to save time. Let’s say you can type 25 WPM and you need to type 10 emails a day for work. This could take you around 80 minutes per day.

On the other hand, if you could type 50 WPM (a fluent but not advanced typing speed) you would be able to complete the same task in just 40 minutes.

In the course of a week, this would save you over three hours. In the course of a month, it would add up to almost 15 hours!

Enables You to Focus on Your Ideas

Hunt and peck typing takes a lot more thought and attention than touch typing.

In fact, touch typists don’t even need to think about where the keys are for a second. The muscle memory in their fingers helps them type with ease.

This means that touch typists can put all of their thought and attention on the work at hand. Whether it’s writing an email, rap lyrics, or an important memo, mastering typing means you can spend your mental energy where it’s most needed.

Helps You Communicate More Efficiently

One thing kids love to do? Chat with their friends. And increasingly, digital communication is becoming a huge part of how students communicate.

Be it on Google Hangouts or Facebook Messenger, nobody wants to be a painfully slow typist.

Communicating with your friends in real time requires getting your fingers moving while keeping accuracy up.

Makes it Easier to Take Notes

It’s becoming more and more common for students to take notes on computers in college and even high school. And it makes sense. A proficient typist can record down ideas much faster than she can write by hand.

Being quick on the keyboard means you’ll be able to keep up with a fast-talking professor and ace your next exam.

Prepares You for Your Future Career

Almost all top professions today require typing competency. From medicine to law and from fashion design to business, typing is a regular part of the job.

Working on your WPM will ensure that when you land your dream job your slow typing skills won’t hold you back from meeting your full potential.

Helps You Land the Job

Before you can rock at your dream job, though, you have to land it. And tough but true, how one types is often seen as an indicator of intelligence.

If your resume is riddled with careless typing errors, or if the process of writing an email is a laborious task, chances are you won’t get hired in the first place.

Keeps You From Hurting Yourself

Hunt and peck typists are much more likely to have neck problems that touch typists.

Why? The process of constantly looking up and down from your keyboard to your screen puts a strain on your neck that can lead to prolonged neck problems.

Practicing correct typing form and posture while keeping your head stationary is much easier as your typing improves.

So before one of your students can whine “why do we have to practice this?” nip the question in the bud by getting your kids invested in all the ways touch typing can improve their lives.

Typing Fun With ASCII Art

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Fun Facts Games

Painting, sculpting, acting, and singing are all considered arts.

One thing that’s not usually thought of as an art? Typing.

While the primary purpose of typing is definitely communication, there are ways that people manage to apply their creativity to the keyboard.

One such way is through ASCII Art. This art form involves using the characters on the keyboard to create graphic designs.

ASCII Art ranges from the simple to the incredibly complex.

While basic designs such as this fish  ><((((‘>  are created on only one line of text, others will span dozens of lines and can be very intricate.

The Evolution of ASCII Art

ASCII Art originated in the 1960s as an alternative to graphic images.

Using only the symbols that exist on a traditional keyboard or even a typewriter, creative typists would design visually-appealing logos and banners for documents.

Awhile back, when emojis were still in their infancy, my Co-Founder Austin created a smartphone app called TextPics that allowed users to incorporate ASCII Art in their text messages.

The app took off and actually helped fund the creation of Typing.com.

ASCII Art also has great potential for use in the typing classroom. It challenges students to use symbols and punctuation marks that don’t always get regular use.

Check out the tips and resources below for how you can use ASCII Art in your typing classroom.

Creating ASCII Art with Students

ASCII Art can be a great way to get students practicing with using advanced symbols and punctuation marks on the keyboard.

There are plenty of ingenious resources available that teachers can use for free.

Step 1: Pick your ASCII art

A quick search on Google will bring up many different sites with ASCII art. To get you started, here are some ASCII art images that kids are bound to love:

Step 2: Put the art in an ASCII art generator

One of our favorites is this ASCII art generator. You can paste in any ASCII Art image that you find online, and the generator will instantly create directions to recreate the image.

You can then give these directions to students who will need to use their typing skills (and attention to detail) to recreate the image.

The fun of this is that students won’t know what image they’re creating until they finish. It’s almost like a mystery puzzle!

Just make sure that students use a monospaced font such as COURIER.

Here is a list of other monospaced fonts that will work (thanks to George Somers who commented on a previous post with this tip!).

Whoever said typing isn’t an art!?!

What is Good Accuracy When it Comes to Typing?

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Typing Tips

In most academic subjects, students are reaching for an A and a 90% is the cutoff point for this coveted letter grade.

In typing, though, settling for 90% accuracy is a huge mistake.

If 10% of the words you type contain errors, you can hardly call yourself a proficient typist.

Let’s say, for example, that you need to write an email to the principal that contains 500 words. If you were typing with 90% accuracy, that means that 50 of these words would contain errors!

Not very impressive.

So if 90% is too low, where should we set the accuracy bar for students?

To some extent, this depends on the age, with younger students being allowed a bit more leeway for errors.

In general, though, students in 4th grade and up should be aiming for 98%+ accuracy while typing.

Students in 4th grade and up should be aiming for 98%+ accuracy while typing.Tweet it

Will such high accuracy mean sacrificing speed? At first, it definitely will and that’s ok!

It’s much more important that students learn to type correctly first, before learning to type quickly.

Setting Accuracy Benchmarks in Your Class

Have a plan in place for what your class expectations are as far as accuracy goes.

As a teacher, you can set the bar for what percentage of accuracy constitutes “mastery”.

This percentage may change over the course of the year or depending on the abilities and ages of your students.

At the beginning of the year, it might make sense to start with 95% accuracy constituting passing.

Any student who completes a lesson with less than 95% accuracy needs to go back and do the work again, being more accuracy-aware the second time around.

Soon, though, this percentage should be bumped up little by little until students are being held to 98% accuracy or better on each lesson.

Holding such a high bar is bound to slow kids down a bit, but it’s more important that they form good habits now. Speed will come later.

Incentivizing Typing Accuracy

There are plenty of ways teachers can incentivize accuracy when it comes to using Typing.com.

Create a leaderboard in your classroom where students with the highest accuracy averages get special recognition.

Or give students a raffle ticket every time they complete a lesson with 100% accuracy. At the end of the week, you can draw tickets for prizes.

Placing value on the importance of typing accuracy will pay off in the long run as your students develop the typing habits and muscle memory to hit the right key every time, and catch themselves if they don’t.

Check Out the Newest Game on Typing.com

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Games

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new typing game that your students are guaranteed to love.

In this adrenaline-packed game, students use their typing skills to operate a space warcraft to shoot down incoming enemy ships.

It’s easy to learn, addictive, and great typing practice – just what you need to keep kids engaged through the rest of the semester.

Click here to go to the games area to give Z-Type a whirl.

To help you determine how this game fits in with the rest, we’ve updated our The Teacher’s Guide to the Best Typing Games to include this latest installment.

Introducing the Game

I’m pretty sure it won’t take much work on your part to get students excited about this new game.

That said, there are some things that you’ll want to do as a teacher to make sure that students make the most of Z Type.

For one, it’s important to emphasize that this is a game that requires both speed and accuracy.

Going fast will help you, but unless you’re striking the right keys in the right sequence, you won’t be able to shoot down the approaching words.

Once you start typing a word, your shooter locks onto that word, meaning you need to finish one word before moving onto the next.

Secondly, remind students about the importance of using appropriate typing form even when playing games.

Make sure that all students commence their practice sitting up straight, both feet on the floor, and fingers resting on the home keys. Get students into the habit of checking themselves to ensure they are back in this position at the start of every level.

Making the Most of Z Type

Measuring Progress

While Z Type is fun, one of its most useful features is that it provides real-time feedback to students about their typing skills.

A the end of a game, students get a snapshot report of their stats including their accuracy, longest streak of correct letters, and a graph of their progress over time.

This is a great way to boost student investment as they see that the more they practice, the faster they get!

Create Class Competitions

This quick real-time feedback also makes it easy to create in-class competitions between students.

Consider creating a high score board somewhere in your classroom where you can keep the class updated on students with top speeds or highest rates of accuracy.

Home Learning

Wondering how you might get students to keep up their typing practice over the long Thanksgiving holiday?

Z Typing is the answer.

Introduce the game the week before the long weekend, and challenge students to beat their high score over break.

Your students will be excited to come back to school to find out who got the highest score, and you’ll be happy to know they won’t have a lapse in their typing progress!

This Typo Cost $1.4 Million Dollars

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Fun Facts

In the age of writing emails on the phone and text language infiltrating formal communication, it feels like typos are more prevalent than ever.

Typo-ridden emails and documents are unprofessional and make a bad impression. In some cases, though, the damage can be much worse.

There are countless examples in history where a misplaced comma or additional letter have cost millions of dollars!

Help students understand the importance of accurate typing by sharing these stories of costly typographical blunders.

Most Expensive Typos of All Time

NASA’s Missing Hyphen
Total Cost: $80 million

In 1962, NASA attempted to send an interplanetary probe called Mariner 1 to explore Venus. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan. Due to a single missing hyphen in the code that was used to program the speed and trajectory, the probe exploded a few minutes after takeoff. This is undoubtedly the single most expensive hyphen in history.

NYC Department of Education’s Slipup
Total Cost: $1.4 million

In some ways, it seems ironic that the department of education was responsible for this error that cost New York City over a million dollars. In 2006, the comptroller of America’s largest city accidentally inserted an extra letter in a document that was consequentially misinterpreted by the city’s accounting software. The outcome? The Department of Education unintentionally doubled its transportation spending costing the city $1.4 million. That’s a lot of extra school buses!

A Pricey Antique Ale
Total Cost: $503,996

When an eBay seller posted a 150-year-old beer on the auction website, he mistakenly left out one letter. His rare bottle of Allsopp’s Arctic Ale went mostly unnoticed by collectors because it was listed as Allsop’s Arctic Ale. One detail-oriented bidder hit the jackpot when he bought the bottle for $300 and turned around and resold it for $503,300. Careless and ill-informed is not a good combination for selling antiques.

Airline Blunder
Total cost: $7.2 million

Imagine buying a first-class plane ticket from Toronto to Cyprus for just $39. Almost 2,000 lucky travelers scored this deal in 2006 when Alitalia Airlines mistakenly posted the $3,900 tickets at 1 percent of their cost. Stuck in a terrible bind between losing millions of dollars or infuriating customers, the airline eventually decided to honor the ticket price in order to save their reputation.

Japanese Stock Mixup
Total Cost: $340 million

Likely the costliest typing blunder of all time occurred in 2005 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Mizuho Securities Co. was selling shares of a recruiting company that were valued at 610,000 yen apiece. Instead, a careless typing error led to 610,000 shares being sold for 1 yen apiece. Needless to say, the person responsible had a pretty hard time explaining this one.

A Very Expensive “s”
Total cost: $14 million

When the company Taylor & Son was accidentally entered into a database as Taylor & Sons, that extra “s” ended up costing millions. Taylor & Son Ltd. in the UK was facing liquidation, but due to the typing mistake, the 124-year-old engineering firm Taylor & Sons ended up having their reputation ruined overnight. Within a matter of weeks, the firm lost most of their clients, creditors, and contracts forcing the firm into bankruptcy. The British High Court later held the government responsible for the $14 million in damages.

One Costly Comma
Total Cost: $40 million

Typos are by no means a new phenomenon. The Tariff Act of 1872 accidentally wrote “foreign fruit-plants” as “foreign fruit, plants” in a list of items exempt from the tariff. This minor mix up required the United States Treasury to reimburse the money paid by fruit merchandisers until Congress could correct the mistake. The $2 million price tag for the mistake was about .7 percent of the national budget at the time.

Preventing Typos

Kids likely don’t realize the repercussions that careless typing can have. Even if a mistake doesn’t cost millions, typos are still unprofessional and could have negative impacts (not getting a job offer or college acceptance, for example).

Typing.com helps students avoid typos by incentivizing accuracy. Students get alerts when they mistype letters that help them get into the habit of striving for perfection. Additionally, students can earn accuracy stars for completing lessons with near perfect accuracy.

Hopefully practicing to improve accuracy while the stakes are low will save them making one of these billion-dollar blunders.

How To Keep Students Concentrated During Their Typing Lessons

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Teachers

We recently did a survey of Typing.com customers to find out what’s working well and what issues they’ve encountered using Typing.com in their classrooms.

The biggest issue that came up?

Kids get restless and can’t stay focused on their typing lessons.

We ask students to sit still for much of their day, and sometimes that’s a challenge. It can be especially difficult when kids are in front of the computer where there are plenty of other distractions just a click away.

So what are the best tricks of the trade for getting kids to dig in and make the most of typing time?

The Challenge of Typing Lessons

Research shows that children (and even adults) are more likely to get distracted and restless when they are only getting stimulation to one or two senses.

For example— many adults report that they can participate in an activity, whether driving or doing computer work comfortably for longer periods of time if they are listening to music.

The fact that music adds a second sensory stimulus makes monotonous tasks more tolerable.

Following this example, there are plenty of ways that you can mix up typing time to help students keep their focus.

Concentration Tips

Short Sessions

Keep typing sessions short! Most adults couldn’t sit still and work on typing lessons for an hour straight, and we definitely shouldn’t expect kids to.

In fact, many teachers across the nation manage to make typing time productive and purposeful with just a few 15-minute sessions per week.

Visual Cues

Including a visual cue system in typing class can be a great way to keep kids focused. Some teachers will use plastic cups, giving students each a red and a green cup stacked on top of each other.

Students who are working on typing with no issues will display their green cup. If a student needs help or needs a stretch break, he or she can display the red cup as a signal to the teacher.

Students are more likely to focus on their work if they know there is a mechanism in place for showing when they need help.

Jazz It Up

A little music can go a long way in helping kids stay focused on the task at hand. Instrumental music tends to be a safe bet for not being too distracting.

For a crowd-pleasing twist, search youtube for instrumental covers of pop songs. Students will recognize the melodies, but won’t be tempted to sing along to the lyrics.

Build in Movement

Find ways to build in movement to typing lessons. Maybe students know they get a silent stretch break behind their chair when they finish a lesson.

Or, if you teach in a self-contained class, you can make typing lessons one of several stations that students rotate to.

If students practice typing in conjunction with other more dynamic activities (such as group reading, or working on math problems with a partner) it will be easier for them to focus once their fingers touch the keyboard.

Gamify Typing

While there will be days that students need to focus on an independent typing lesson, there are plenty of opportunities to also make typing fun.

From fun competitions to creative writing assignments, don’t forget to give students opportunities to apply their typing skills in engaging new ways.

What tricks and strategies do you use in your classroom to help students stay focused and reap the benefits of concentrated typing practice?

5 Top Tips for Keeping Your Computer Desktop Clean

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Teachers

Studies show that people are more productive when working in an organized workspace. We’re willing to bet the same is true for working with an organized computer desktop.

For one, computers actually run more slowly when the desktop is cluttered with dozens of documents, photos, excel sheets, and applications. Additionally, a messy desktop makes it harder to find what you’re looking for and is more distracting when you sit down to get work done.

Nonetheless, the job of keeping a virtual desktop clutter free feels like an unrelenting battle. Even after a thorough desktop purge, a few days later it’s a mess again.

In honor of “National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day” here are our top tips for keeping your virtual desktop clean and organized.

Use folders (in folders)

When it comes to desktop organization, folders are your friend. Yes, it will take you a few extra clicks to get to what you’re looking for, but if your folders are set up in a logical way, you’ll know where everything is. Once you’ve set up folders for the broadest categories of documents you save (work, home, school, etc.) create folders within these folders to further categorize the types of files you want to archive.

Try out sectioned wallpaper

There are plenty of sectioned wallpapers you can download that allow you to sort files and folders into categories right on your desktop. This is a great option if you are a visual person who likes to see where everything is, but still want to bring some order to your home screen.

Customize your desktop

For some people, all it takes to keep their desktop clean and tidy is a sentimental photo that they don’t want to obstruct. Try uploading a meaningful photo as your wallpaper instead of one of the generic flowerscapes that came with your computer. If it’s a photo you love, you might find that you’re more likely to periodically clean up your desktop just so the photo looks its best.

Schedule a periodic cleaning

Sure, it’s easy enough to say you are going to tidy up your desktop every Friday before you leave the office, but, like many things, this is easier said than done. Since organizing one’s desktop is never 100% necessary, it’s a task that often gets skipped over in favor of more urgent work. Make cleaning up your desktop a priority by scheduling an appointment in your calendar periodically. It will be much harder to avoid when you get a pesky reminder on your screen that it’s time for a desktop tidy.

Try out Google Drive

If it’s Microsoft Office documents that are making most of the mess on your desktop, consider switching over to Google Drive. Aside from dozens of other perks to the Google Drive platform, all of your documents get automatically saved online, meaning that you’ll never have to save anything to your desktop. A warning here, though. If you’re not careful, it’s very easy to end up with a Google Drive that is just as cluttered as your desktop.

So in honor of “National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day” set aside some time this week to clean up your desktop once and for all by trying out some of these tips. You and your computer will be happy you did!

How Typing Levels the Academic Playing Field for Students with Disabilities

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Education

One in five students in the United States has a language-based learning disability. While dyslexia is the most common, many others make writing and reading more difficult. This is where typing can help.

(more…)

How Do You Teach Typing With Just 15 Minutes?

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Teachers

If there’s one thing teachers never have enough of, it’s time.

Time to teach, time to grade, time to plan, and time for oneself are all at a premium.

With so many competing skills and competencies that teachers need to teach, maximizing one’s time spent on content is essential.

Unfortunately, typing often gets the short end of the stick.

While we recommend that students get daily practice on the keyboard in order to truly master the skill, many schools have student use Typing.com for just 30-40 minutes a week.

So how do you make the most of this limited amount of time at the keyboard?

If that’s the case for you and your students, we recommend breaking classroom typing time into 2 slots of 15-20 minutes each. Use one of these to check students’ posture and technique and the other make typing relevant and fun!

Thanks to the interactive lessons on the Typing.com platform, the students can continue to practice and learn outside of the classroom. So while in-person supervision isn’t imperative all the time, here is how you can make the most of the time you have:

Monitoring Typing Form and Progress

It’s important to make sure that novice typists are getting adequate supervision and feedback during practice time.

This should cover everything from getting on the computer to typing form and posture.

Start with logging in. Keep an eye on students to help them troubleshoot the login process. If they’re struggling with remembering their password, consider using some of the tips found here.

Not only will this save them and you time, but it’s actually an important skill for their future. Students need to be able to access sites easily and navigate around them.

Next, watch students’ their progress on the lessons. Be sure to keep an eye on these four things:

– Posture: Students should be sitting up straight with shoulders back and eyes at screen level and feet on the floor.

– Fingers on home row: Kids may fight you on this one, but it’s essential that they master this skill early on so it becomes a habit.

– Moving just the finger needed for each key: Check that students’ hands are stationary and resting gently on the keyboard.

– Looking at the screen, not keyboard: This goes hand in hand with posture and is the only way to master touch typing.

Finally, pay attention to student progress towards benchmarks and goals. Are they easily making the benchmark times? Based on how your class is doing as a whole, you may need to adjust these.

Making Typing Fun

For your second weekly 15 minute slot of typing time, work in opportunities to make typing fun and relevant to their lives. This will encourage continued practice beyond the classroom.

Nitro Type is a great (planning-free) game that students can access through Typing.com. They can organize a friends’ race and put their skills to the test.

There are also plenty of fun typing activities you can execute that include your entire class, groups of students, or individuals.

Extending Typing Time

For students who have access to a computer at home, this provides another opportunity to maximize typing practice.

Teachers can assign Typing.com lessons to be completed as homework.

The lessons guide students and give them feedback, and the results are tracked so you can check in on how students did and who might need more support next week.

Having only 30 minutes of typing instruction a week isn’t ideal, but that doesn’t mean that this time can’t be productive and game-changing for your students and their typing abilities.

How to Protect Students’ Eyes from Excessive Computer Use

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom
Ergonomics Teachers

For all the complaining they are capable of, kids are often tougher than we give them credit for.

Kids can scrape a knee, brush it off, and get right back to playing, all for the sake of not missing the remainder of the kickball game.

There are instances, though, where this toughness can get kids into trouble. They may not realize that something that’s slightly uncomfortable (carrying a 40-pound backpack, say) is actually bad for their health.

When using computers for extended periods of time, students are likely to ignore discomfort, especially if they are engaged in what they are working on.

One place where we see this most often is with the effect that computer use has on one’s eyes. Many adults are also guilty of using computers to an extent that can negatively affect their eyesight, but students are even more susceptible to this.

Read on to find out why and how you can help your students protect their eyes during computer use.

Why Students Are Especially at Risk

While excessive computer use can wreak havoc on anyone’s eyesight, it is especially threatening for children for a number of reasons:

  • Kids tend to zone in more on the computer screen than adults. They often get so involved in what they’re looking at that they forget to blink.
  • If students are using computers that were set up for adult use (either at home or at school) or were set up improperly, it can cause additional eye strain if students are looking up at their computer screen.
  • In many ways, kids are more resilient than adults. One such way? They tend to ignore discomfort and may not take the necessary steps to change the situation.
  • Many students accept blurry vision when staring at a screen, thinking that is what happens to everyone when using a computer.

Our Recommendation: The 20-20-10 Rule

As teachers, it is our responsibility to make sure that students learn appropriate guidelines for computer use. When it comes to how to protect their vision, our recommendation is the 20-20-10 rule.

This easy to remember rule can be implemented in your classroom as a standard part of computer use. Eye doctors recommend that every 20 minutes your students should take their eyes off of the computer screen and look at an object at least 20 feet away for at least 10 seconds. These periodic breaks from staring at the screen can reduce the risk of focusing fatigue that can cause nearsightedness in children.

20-20-10 rule: Every 20 mins have your students look at something 20 ft away for 10 seconds.Tweet it

Students won’t likely abide by the 20-20-10 rule if left to their own devices, so it’s important that as a teacher you invest students in the rule and create structures to help them follow it. Consider the following ideas:

1. Explain the dangers to students

Brief students on why it is important to rest your eyes every once in awhile during computer time with an analogy. Like riding a horse through a desert, bad riders may ignore the horse’s needs and keep riding until their horse can’t take it anymore and collapses. Good riders pay attention to the needs of their horse and let it rest regularly. This way the horse will be able to go further in the long-term.

2. Put up something to look at during rest periods

Put a fun poster on the far end of the room or perhaps even on the ceiling so students have something specific to focus on for their 10-second break.

3. Set a timer

When computer time starts, set an alarm for 20 minutes and repeat as needed. Set the expectation that when the time goes off everyone’s eyes must be directed towards the poster or another designated point.

4. Make a game of it!

Ask students to find something in the poster and shout out their answer. This will get everyone involved, and if the solution is sufficiently difficult this should take up the full 10 seconds.

In addition to helping students protect their eyes while at the computer, you also want to encourage safe typing posture so that students acquire safe typing habits across the board. Check out our previous post here for ideas on how to help students protect their neck and back while sitting at the computer.

If you can get students accustomed to these habits early on, they’ll be much more likely to practice safe computer use later in life.