Need ICT Activities? Try Dance Mat Typing!

The Quebec Education Program ( primary | secondary ) lists use of ICT (information & communications technologies) activities as one of the cross-curricular competences upon which all school children (primary & secondary) should be evaluated. Many home educators also feel it is important for our children to be exposed to technology - be it computers and internet, digital cameras and recording equipment, educational programming offered on TV, etc.

On the other hand, we don’t want to choose just anything. We aren’t interested in our kids becoming totally dependent on calculators and spell checkers. We don’t want the TV to be our babysitter. And with the current concerns over childhood obesity, we don’t want to sacrifice active time so our kids can sit passively in front of a screen. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends parents limit their children’s screen time (TV, platform games, computers) to 1-2 hours a day, so we’ve got to find the best resources for ICT, and use them wisely.

I discovered Dance Mat Typing when a fellow home-schooler posted about it. She said her kids basically didn’t touch the computer except to practice their typing skills at this site. We loosely follow the Ambleside Online curriculum, which includes keyboarding/typing instruction, and since I never learned to touch type I didn’t feel prepared to teach this without assistance of some kind. So I followed the link posted, thinking it would be a useful resource but not expecting it to be terribly engaging.

Boy, was I surprised! This site is colourful & fun, and it uses tricks of all sorts to make those typing lessons far from boring. There is music and animation, lots of diagrams to show kids where to place their fingers and what to type, and plenty of feedback so they know that they’re getting somewhere. Both Dojogirl (10) and the Banana (almost 7) love the site, and our baby girl (3) is thrilled just to watch the screen while they practice their typing.

Kid Appeal

This free site is part of the larger BBC Schools web site, and is recommended by them for primary ages 7-11. The lessons run in Adobe Flash, and are simple enough that emergent readers (and probably even non-readers with some computer familiarity) can easily “play the game” independently. (If you don’t have it installed, it’s a free download.)

A whole cast of cartoon animals accompany kids through their practice of “a as is it” and “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Each has a different personality and accent, and these colourful characters just have to be seen to be appreciated! Although Apollo the Greek cat was cute, I still think my favourite is the goat with the brogue. To allow kids a break between practice exercises the characters sometimes teach, but they also burst into songs accompanied by a full band.

Each scenario is slightly different visually, and in terms of the way the main character speaks. There is bound to be at least one character who appeals to your kids, and perhaps some will remind them of people they know - only these guys are likely more outrageous than most folks in your entourage! Because the background of each scenario is different, the progress bar at the bottom of the display changes too. So kids break records with the rocking goat, smash dishes with Apollo, and squash cans with a back alley turtle. This helps keep them interested, whereas poor hubby was bored senseless when he took his typing class in high school
Scope and Sequence

The course is self-paced, and kids can repeat or skip over lessons if they wish. It is divided into 4 levels, each of which is further divided into 3 stages. The first lesson begins with the goat demonstrating proper typing posture, and teaching the children to locate “the bumps” on letters f & j in order to position their fingers correctly over the keys. This first level teaches the “home row” - the middle row of keys on the keyboard, where the fingers naturally rest during touch typing. Once the home row is mastered, each new stage adds two extra keys at a time.

There is plenty of practice after each lesson is taught. This is usually divided into a group of exercises for the left hand, one for the right, and one in which both hands type together. Lessons are cumulative, and every new stage begins with a warm-up. The final lesson culminates in a typing test. The student’s speed & accuracy are measured, and there is an option to add one’s score to the scoreboard or to print out a certificate.

On the display there is an image of the keyboard, so kids who are tempted to “peek” can look at the keys on-screen instead of looking at their hands. If they type the wrong letter, the display signals them with a sound and highlights the correct key. In later lessons the keyboard on the screen is hidden, but it can be toggled on if needed.

The entire layout of the QWERTY keyboard is taught, including punctuation marks and the use of the shift keys. The major exception is that the numbers are left out. For those who are learning languages that include special characters such as accented letters, these are not included. But by completing all four levels your child should be quite a capable English-language typist.

For a complete scope and sequence, as well as some safety pointers, you can read the “about” page on the site.

Benefits to Touch Typing

While penmanship is certainly a skill that kids need even in the so-called information age, touch typing is also a necessity in any academic or work milieu where computers are used. Touch typing gives your kids the advantage of being able to focus on the task at hand, rather than painfully searching the keyboard for each letter in turn. Knowing they have acquired some speed and accuracy in typing will give them the self-confidence to face greater challenges, whether it be creative writing or a new programming language.

Older kids who are experiencing difficulties with penmanship will find that typing can speed up the task of writing essays or reports. Kids who have been reluctant writers may come out of their shells once they discover the doors that written (or typed) communication can open for them.

In terms of general discipline and skills, typing lessons encourage good posture and becoming aware of the body’s need for breaks to stretch or change activities. Learning the layout of the keyboard can assist children who are having difficulty with memory work. The challenge of typing the correct keys with the correct fingers, in the correct sequence, should improve not only fine motor skills but hand-eye coordination as well. The attention to detail required to type accurately at a good pace may also help kids to focus and spell better.

Functionality & Extras

For those who are easily distracted, the full screen version simply cuts out the navigation menus and such that surround the display. Children who have difficulty to focus will appreciate this mode. There is also a non-flash version that, while lacking the lovely animation and sound, teaches the same skills in exactly the same order. Although Adobe Flash is a free program, some users may need or prefer this lower tech version.

Printable worksheets (really the course non-flash course in printer-friendly format) maintain the colour and visual appeal of the program. These can be used for offline practice, or even on a typewriter.

In keeping with the game-like presentation of the course, there is a scoreboard where high scores are displayed (at time of writing, the best score is 85 wpm.) This should encourage kids to keep going back to the course to perfect their typing skills - if not by repeating the lessons at least by re-taking the test.

Drawbacks

The only drawback to Dance Mat Typing is that the kids fight over it!

Otherwise, the folks at BBC Schools have thought of everything. There are adaptations for varying abilities and needs (i.e. full screen, non-Flash & printable versions) and the course should run well on any browser that can run Flash. You will need speakers and/or headphones if you intend to use the Flash version, but this shouldn’t be a problem on most computers.

At the beginning of each stage there is a screen with a small amount of printed text that is not read in the animation, but not understanding it will not handicap a student in any way. Other than that, the Flash version assumes no reading skills. The non-Flash & print versions would require some assistance from a person who reads, if used by an emergent reader.

Where To Go Next?

I would recommend that kids continue using the course and practicing typing in other situations, until they can accurately type a dictated paragraph - or comfortably carry on a conversation in a chat program! Even older kids can repeat the levels without losing interest. Try counting mistakes during the lessons, or using a stopwatch to time each stage, in order to add challenge for children need it. Keeping a record to show improvement is good incentive too, whether you use stickers or bar graphs, or use the data gathered to teach these kids to plot a curve. Get creative!

When you feel the need to move on, you can look for other sites that offer typing skills practice or testing. Just use your favourite search engine. Or, move onto teaching word processing. Your office suite may have tutorials available, or try the BBC Schools secondary web site. It offers a very basic word processing tutorial in its ICT section. Afterwards, exploration and experimentation should improve familiarity with the functions of whatever word processor you are using.