Group Interview

Liz Sanford

Ed Psy 398OL

2-14-00

My intention was to discover other keyboarding programs used in schools, to get a better understanding of how teachers and lab coordinators feel about the importance of keyboarding, and if they feel the program they are using is effective.

My group interview consisted of 2 lab coordinators and 2 teachers. All the participants felt that keyboarding should begin in the early elementary grades. One interviewee believes the vocabulary should be iniated as early as kindergarten. Her experience is that students who have not had keyboarding lessons in the early years can develop bad habits making it more difficult to teach correct techniques.

Another common consensus was that the keyboarding programs and terminology should be consistently used throughout the district and implemented through the high school years. One participant reported that all keyboarding in their district was completed in the early years. Once students reached the junior high level, she noticed a decline in their keyboarding skills.

Each participant felt that the current program they were using: IBM touch typing, Paws, Microtype and even using Microsoft Word and a keyboarding textbook , were effective methods of teaching keyboarding skills as long as the program was used over many years. However, the schools seem to be counting on the program(those using programs specifically for keyboarding)to teach the entire lesson. I would like to see some supplemental matierials included.

The program that sounds the most complete for the upper grades is the Microtype which measures for accuracy and speed as well as finger/key drills. I was happy to hear that one of the high schools included keyboarding as a graduation requirement.

My conclusions after this group interview, my student observation, and the individual interview is that keyboarding is an essential tool for today's students. Students in most districts are now required to use computers in some part of the curriculum. Keyboarding skills should be included in the current curriculum with proper assessment tools to monitor student improvement.

If I were setting up a keyboarding program in my lab, I would want to address the following: how am I going to monitor students' progress; how can I supplement the program we are using; and what skills do I feel are neccessary at each grade level? The program should be developed to build upon prior learning in each grade level. I would begin the formal lessons at the second grade level and continue through the junior high school years and require one year at the high school level with an option to test out their freshman year.

This was in no way an adversary-oriented evaluation; all of my subjects seemed to agree. I would be interested to hear from those of you who feel contrary to my conclusions and your reasons why.