https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys Preparing younger students for home row keyboarding. en-us 2016-07-09 13:47:34 UTC 2020-02-29 17:21:06 UTC hello@padlet.com keyboarding_arts https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys/wish/117454108 Join the discussion on Teaching with Technology at:
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Call or text Dr. Bill Morgan at 801-946-4085]]> 2016-08-03 12:06:11 UTC https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys/wish/117454108 keyboarding_arts https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys/wish/121457277 While living in the Chicago suburbs, some years ago, my wife and daughter spent some time in the Art Institute of Chicago studying how babies in Nativity scenes were portrayed by the European Masters. My wife, Karen, has been sharing these images on social media and many have commented on how the babies are often shown with adult faces and body structures similar to the adults in the same painting. 

While looking at these images I reflected on the training that I once received in a state sponsored teacher license renewal workshop for teachers certifying to teach computer keyboarding in elementary schools. I remember being appalled that the skills taught to young children were identical to those taught in business classes at the high school level. We were told to expect children between third and sixth grade to sit with both feet on the floor and backs against their chairs in a one size fits all computer lab!  

What I then saw, as an educational technology specialist visiting multiple computer labs, was the feet of young students swinging and kicking the wires hanging below the tables because their feet would not reach the floor. I was told that they were developing "good technique" while reaching keyboards and mice that were positioned, in some cases, above their shoulders. 

According to Child Development literature, children ages six to ten should not be expected to sit for more than 10 to 20 minutes at computer desks, while in actual practice many are sent to the lab for up to 45 minutes while their teachers receive much needed preparation time! Rather, students ought to be sitting at their own classroom desks with their feet flat on the floor and backs against their chairs.

This renews, in my mind, the need for a developmental keyboarding method where students are allowed to move their whole bodies to hop around and explore the patterns found on the computer keyboard. The youngest students might be looking to see which letter shapes have straight lines and which have curved lines. They would be learning the names of letters and the sounds that each make in English. Early childhood teachers would use the number line found on every computer keyboard to teach the counting numbers.

I’m suggesting that students ought to be guided in small groups by a classroom aide or volunteer to find alphabetic patterns as well as the letters to spell grade level word wall words. Small groups ought to be sitting on the floor around a giant keyboard mat while individual students are invited to "hop like frogs" from left to right while their classmates chant the names of the letters. 

I'm just waiting to be invited to visit your schools to assess the use of computers in your classrooms and labs, and then provide customized in-service for your teachers, staff, and volunteers. Please contact me to discuss your local needs. 

Dr. Bill Morgan, aka Doc Frog! 
keyboarding.arts@gmail.com
Call or text 801-946-4085]]> 2016-09-03 17:18:48 UTC https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys/wish/121457277 keyboarding_arts https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys/wish/128460889 At what age should we introduce ]]> 2016-10-05 12:46:14 UTC https://padlet.com/keyboarding_arts/prekeys/wish/128460889