-tictech message:
Thoughts on keyboarding . . . hmmmm . . . voice recognition and tablet
PC's. How much longer should we teach the skills??? Will our 6th
graders be typing when they graduate? Is the real skill the ability to
communicate in writing?
Eric Faulkner
efaulkner@seattleschools.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Davison, Mary
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 3:56 PM
To: tic-tech
Subject: RE: tictech: Autodidactic Typists
-tictech message:
It is fairly amazing how fast some students can type with just a few
fingers
but there are two issues:
1. They can't get over a certain speed - usually it is about 40-45 words
a
minute that way and most importantly
2. They are hurting themselves from repetitive stress injuries. Many of
our
students parents and some of the students themselves have already had
surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome or other repetitive stress
problems. If
the proper technique is used - (we liken it to throwing a basketball by
bending down and throwing it through your legs- yes, many times it will
go
through the hoop but it doesn't further your expertise in the game) they
won't be injured and therefore will be more productive to themselves and
everyone around them.
So both from a speed standpoint and an injury standpoint it just makes
sense
to really push proper technique. It doesn't seem fair to the student or
to
any further instruction they may have in computer applications to let
them
get by rather than actually teaching them to do their best and not get
injured in the works.
Mary Davison, Ballard High School
mkdavison@seattleschools.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Meyer, Karl
Sent: Thu 6/5/2003 2:53 PM
To: tic-tech
Cc:
Subject: tictech: Autodidactic Typists
-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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