-tictech message:
It seems like I encounter more and more 6th graders who can type accurately
at astonishing speeds.
This is a small percentage of the whole but still there seems to be one in
every crowd.
The thing is that they all seem to have "whack" self-taught techniques. Part
of me squirms when I see a kid typing 40 words per minute using only index
and middle fingers. Part of me wants to celebrate the achievement. I know
that they could eventually type faster using 10 fingers instead of just 4
but
it is hard to argue that point to a student who is rightfully proud of
themselves for walking into my class able to type right over the top of the
grading chart.
An informal survey shows that most of these autodidacts learned their chops
by instant messaging.
So, should I take the point of view that the ends (accurate and speedy
keyboarding) justify the means (inefficient and possibly un-ergonomic
technique)?
Or, should I follow the belief that while discipline is not an end in
itself - it is the means to a perfect (or at least high quality) end and ask
students to discipline
themselves and type the standard QWERTY way?
Any thoughts?
Jim Meyer
kjmeyer@seattleschools.org
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