Keyboarding
I had planned on posting this earlier but have been unable to contact the presenter for permission or links to other work so I opted to summarize, leaving out specifics such as timings and a rubric that was presented. If I hear from Dr. Light I will pass on this information in a later post.
Dr. Gina Light presented a session at the recent MEMO conference entitled Keyboarding in Elementary Schools. She has had considerable experience as a media specialist and has taught keyboarding. However, she points out that according to Minnesota law keyboarding should be taught by a “Certified K-8 Business Teacher, certified classroom teacher for his/her own class, or a teacher with computer application endorsement.” I didn’t see media specialist anywhere in that list. A district can get a variance for one year only. According to Light, about 33 Minnesota districts have variances. Even though media specialists are not on the qualified list of instructors many of us to teach keyboarding. How many schools are ignoring this law? Probably most of them.
Students need to be able to keyboard every day for about a quarter, specific instruction starting in 3rd or 4th grade. Then they can practice the rest of the year using various applications. Teaching keyboarding means that something else has to not be taught. What should a classroom teacher give up? This is a decision an administrator has to make but in these days when more and more schools find themselves struggling with AYP the decision to teach keyboarding is easily sidelined. Even if districts use free online apps, the real cost is time.
I know there’s some debate about the importance of keyboarding but I found Light’s reasons for students to learn keyboarding to be compelling. She points out that students show improvements in behavior, reading/writing skills, overall technology skills, and confidence. They’re more willing to write because they get to do it on the computer, show more pride in their work, and ultimately enjoy school more. Even if handheld devices become more prevalent in education, some level of keyboarding is surely in order.
