Guiding Principles

Technology skills are best acquired when instruction and practice are integrated with meaningful curricular activities. There are, however, some basic skills that initially merit separate attention and practice. Use of the computer keyboard is one of those skills.

To attain a functional level of keyboard use and to avoid forming habits that become extremely difficult to break, students should be exposed to correct keyboarding techniques at an early age. Since the acquisition of skill is an ongoing process, instruction should be offered at every grade level. Students should consistently improve speed and accuracy by applying keyboarding skills in all subject areas.

Opportunities for regular practice should be provided to allow students to attain and maintain speed and accuracy. Practice is most effective when sessions are brief but frequent. Four sessions per week of 20 minutes each, for example, have proven much more effective than two sessions of 45 minutes each. Frequent practice periods in a concentrated number of weeks have proven more effective than spreading practice over several months. Teachers and administrators are encouraged to consider these results when allocating equipment and computer time.

Students gain keyboarding skills much more effectively when the teacher is actively engaged in delivering instruction and monitoring progress. Keyboarding software is best used for assessing speed and accuracy, and for providing extra practice, not for teaching students to keyboard.

It is not necessary to practice keyboarding on a computer with a fast processor, a large amount of memory, and multimedia capabilities. Keyboarding practice is a great use of older computers or of specialized hardware with limited operating systems.

To provide consistency throughout the district, elementary campuses should use the following schedule. After completion of the defined cycle, keyboarding skills should be reinforced in brief but frequent sessions throughout the school year as curriculum-based, word processing activities are completed.