Not all typing programs are created equal. As you shop around for keyboarding software options, you’ll find that some produce better results, are more accessible, and integrate more with other parts of your school curriculum.
A typing program with advanced features allows all students to learn more and develop additional skills for the future. Look for these features when choosing a typing program for your school.
1. Adaptability
Adaptability is vital for successful typing education. Different students will start at different places, struggle with different parts of keyboarding, and learn at different speeds. By choosing an adaptable program, you will create a curriculum optimized for each student to reach their potential within the time you allot.
When students can learn at their own pace and in their own way, they learn more than they would in a standardized curriculum.
2. Accessibility
All students should be able to access the education their school provides. Typing programs for schools should accommodate students with a variety of needs and abilities, such as students with impaired vision or a single functional hand. ADA compliant features help students achieve success together with their peers and reduce disability-related participation gaps.
Many students benefit from closed captioning, larger and dyslexic-friendly fonts, screen readers, or curriculum that adapts to one-handed typing. Look for keyboarding lessons that include these features.
3. Learn-to-Type Games
Let’s face it: typing is boring. For many students, it’s extraordinarily difficult to stay engaged while practicing the same letters over and over again. Turning elementary keyboarding lessons into a game helps students stay focused and learn more effectively.
Gamification has benefits for teachers as well as students. In an era that emphasizes timed testing and assessment, it’s important for educators to be able to see how students are doing. Many learn-to-type games provide progress tracking features that allow teachers to assess their students’ learning. Best of all, the students feel less stress and pressure than they would with a traditional exam.
4. Coding Practice
Keyboarding and coding go hand in hand. You need to be able to type accurately in order to write code that will run! Unfortunately, coding often includes patterns that are not practiced in a typical typing curriculum, such as brackets and HTML tags. It makes sense to incorporate coding into typing practice.
Integrating coding into a typing program allows students to gain more advanced tech skills that will help them qualify for work opportunities later on. By choosing a typing program that prepares students for coding, you are preparing them to succeed in the high-tech future.
5. Spanish Language Integration
The future is not all about tech. With more than 580 million Spanish speakers in the world (and rising), including 37 million in the U.S., it’s important for the next generation to be able to communicate in Spanish. Bilingualism also has some unexpected cognitive benefits, like flexibility, empathy, and delayed onset of dementia.
Spanish language integration in typing programs allows students to improve their foreign language skills as they practice keyboarding. Language and technology students can both reap the benefits of this practice.
Spanish language integration can also help ESL/ELL students whose first language is Spanish learn to type more easily. For example, a typing program that provides instructions in the student’s first language could help them avoid falling behind due to the language barrier. Meanwhile, practicing typing English texts could help students pick up English grammar faster.
6. Digital Citizenship Education
As students become more skilled with computers, it’s crucial for them to know how to use their skills well. You don’t want your students to learn how to type fast only to fall victim to identity theft because they didn’t make their password secure! Schools can protect students’ futures by teaching them to use the technology they’re learning responsibly.
Look for typing programs that build digital citizenship into an engaging curriculum component. Videos, animation, and quizzes that incorporate real-life technology situations can all help the lessons stick. Even if you’re already teaching digital citizenship elsewhere, it’s a good idea to reinforce those lessons as students are learning technology skills.
The Best Keyboarding Software for Schools
Typing Agent is a 100% web-based, interactive keyboarding and technology program. Our K-12 curriculum automatically adapts to each student. We offer both ADA-compliant and Spanish-language features to ensure all students can achieve success. In addition to keyboarding, we teach digital citizenship and coding.
We pride ourselves on world-class customer support that ensures teachers can get the help they need in a timely manner. Contact us today to learn more about our program or start a demo.
