Diigo Weekly Update: Keyboarding Activities I
Many schools have worked diligently to integrate computers into the classroom, and they should be commended for this effort. Unfortunately, however, most of these same schools do not even give teaching the art and science of keyboarding a second thought. True, students need to know how to use computers to locate information, create and collaborate, but it’s equally important to teach them how to use the keyboard quickly and accurately.
That said, this week’s Diigo updates include three keyboarding activities that can be used to teach and/or reinforce typing skills.
A keyboarding game in which students move a character from stepping stone to stepping stone to find the treasure by typing the correct home row letters. Points are earned based on speed and accuracy.
» Z-Type
A keyboarding game in which students type the words that are falling from the top of the screen. When entered correctly, a laser shoots them. The object is to eliminate the words before they reach the bottom of the screen.
A keyboarding game in which students make fireworks explode by typing the letters that appear on the rockets. Students have sixty seconds to try to correctly type as many letters as they possibly can. The rockets speed up as the game progresses.
For additional typing activities, check out the Symbaloo Keyboarding webmix I have embedded below—one that is used in my Computers 5 classroom. I love, love the visual aspect this tool provides as well as the easy access students have to a list of typing practice games and activities they can utilize once an assignment is complete.
Yeah, I know… The webmix is a bit overpowering on this blog post, but at least you can get the general idea of what one looks like. For a glimpse of the “real deal”, check out my Classroom 21—Computers 5 wiki page.
If you like the Symbaloo webmix concept, take a look at my post highlighting this “cool tool” here.
Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers for sharing these keyboarding activities.