The proper ways to use technology in the classroom can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to keyboarding skills. By now, schoolchildren have been using tablets, laptops, and old-fashioned computers since birth, all driven by the ancient skillset required by the keyboard.
So when it comes to convincing students to learn the proper way to man the keyboard, it can take quite an act of convincing. Such an act might even require something as time-tested as the scientific method!
With that in mind, today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Jacqui Murray, herself a technology teacher in Northern California, examines the ways that teachers can use the well-tempered scientific method to stress the importance of the keyboard.
Jacqui’s pointers include convincing students to ask, is handwriting or keyboarding faster?
She then encourages students to:
- Do background research
- Construct a hypothesis
- Analyze data
- And more!
Jacqui sums up her article thusly: “Overall, encouraging students to test their own hypothesis and challenge their beliefs, went well beyond simply my goal of encouraging the development of typing skills. Students felt part of the process, active stakeholders in the results rather than the passive recipients of someone else's beliefs. They were much more likely to work harder at their own skills and encourage classmates to do the same.”
Do you have any tips for getting students excited about keyboard skills? Please share!
