A strategy I have used that works well is to set a visual time. If the student has a difficult time remaining on task, collaborate with the classroom teacher and parents to determine what strategies work in other settings. Teaching keyboarding skills to kids using fun typing apps and games helps but it is important to use programs that are accessible to the student’s unique visual needs.ĭuring the lesson, it is important for students to not talk as it will interfere with the process of learning. Be certain to make it fun and also incorporate meaningful activities and age/developmentally appropriate words, phrases, and sentences. Teach drills to initially learn where the keys are, and then provide real practice. Students must learn to use the proper finger for each letter, to have their wrists flat and their thumbs on the space bar. The initial focus should be on using the correct fingers to type the various keys followed by a focus on accuracy and lastly on speed.
The technique is more important than accuracy and speed. Students must learn to not visually search for the keys. There has been much research that supports the use of formal drills. The student slips their hands through the pant openings to locate and type keys. A computer teacher at one of the schools I previously worked at used CLEAN & NEW (This really is important!) boxer shorts as a “sleeve” to cover the keyboards in the computer lab. Strategies I have used include placing stickers and decorative tape to cover keys and placing a sleeve over the keyboard. Placing pressure on the younger student to attain speed will do them a disservice. Monitor the student and watch them closely and model correct form for them.
It is helpful to cover the keys so the student can’t look. It is important for the student to learn the position of the keys and to avoid visually searching for the various letters, numbers, and symbols.
Collaborate with the classroom teacher and request that the student is encouraged to use the correct positioning when typing throughout the day to support the instruction. Encourage the student to sit up straight with their feet flat on the floor, elbows close to their body, wrists straight, and forearms level. Positioning is important when working on keyboarding skills. The rule of least amount of adaptations should be followed when determining what adaptations should be taught and used.
My philosophy is that it is important to begin instruction at this young age to avoid the development of bad habits as well as to get a head start on teaching access to digital print and to provide the student with a means to produce print that is legible to themselves and others.Ī computer system with the appropriate adaptations (screen enlargement or screen reader) is an ideal tool for a student with a visual impairment to use to gain access to information and produce written communication. That being said, typing on a non-adapted keyboard and utilizing internal magnification will provide the student with the ability to type on any keyboard across environments. Although a point can be made that young children have not physically developed enough to learn to type, if they are using computers in pre-K and kindergarten classes, they will develop bad habits which will be hard to break. Waiting until the student is in upper elementary grades or middle school to teach keyboarding is too late as most students will have developed bad keyboarding habits by that time. Keyboarding instruction used to be introduced when students were older, but young children are being introduced to the computer earlier and earlier.