Typing is an essential life skill that creates well-rounded children who are ready for the world for which we are preparing them. After all, from sending emails to filling out job applications, the real world requires a great deal of typing proficiency for adult survival.
Aside from the real-world applications, typing is also a skill that is essential for a child’s success in school. Not only will children who go to college use a computer for most of their assignments in college, they will also likely use a computer for state testing assignments which makes the school look more successful.
Typing is one of the standards required for teaching in schools who have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Even states who have not adopted the Common Core State Standards have a standard that involves typing proficiency. If this is the case in your state, then it is imperative that your students achieve proficiency in typing.
If we want our children to become well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the world ahead of them, then they need to have a firm grasp on typing skills. Typing will improve job skills and career opportunities for students.
Agreed! Since the skill will benefit students in the long term, it should absolutely be taught formally in schools, preferably before the middle school years.
As presented in key national standards, keyboarding is deemed an essential skill. Many states have converted from paper- to computer-based tests, meaning students must have a solid foundation of keyboard learning in order for test scores not to skew. And as the world continues to rely more heavily on technology, the ability to type has become a necessary skill for any and all entering the 21st-century workforce.
Between texting and posting, young people today are more familiar with keyboarding than any generation prior. With the ubiquity of personal devices, many students are more than proficient when it comes to typing with their thumbs. This is why it is perhaps more important than ever to ensure our students are developing the correct typing skills. The longer a student goes without formal keyboarding training, the longer they have to build bad habits.
The key there is formal training. While there may be a slight improvement in some students’ typing, spending time typing is not the same as practicing typing. Without dedicated practice time, students could develop bad habits or work at a speed much slower than what they would ultimately be capable of. Once accomplished, the ability to touch type will yield positive results for students for the rest of their lives and is therefore decidedly worth dedicating time to.
