While setting up proper email addresses and teaching students how to save documents were very simple, typing wasn't going to be something that students learned over night as a bit more time would need to be dedicated in order for students to get better at the activity. Of course the idea of this was not at all appealing to students, but once I told them how much typing you would have to do in college or how much any job relies on computers, students started to realize the importance of the lesson. I also realized that this couldn't be condense into one lesson plan and that this would need a few days while making sure to revisit this concept later on in the semester. As a result, students were given three days last week to work on their typing skills with the main focus being word count and accuracy.
While there is a simple chrome extension that you can use titled Typing Club, luckily Tri-County offers a semester of a writing class virtually. With the help of my mentor teacher we were able to trim this semester course down into three days while still being able to focus on the main components of typing. At the end of the three day students were given a test to see if they had improved at all from the three days of typing skills.
Again, while three days is nowhere near enough for students to make significant improvements to their typing perhaps it will inspire in them the idea to become more proficient in typing. Furthermore, we will return this platform a few times throughout so hopefully with the combination of this tool as well as some of the assignments students will do online in the future these aspects will lead to students improving their typing skills. I think students overall did very well simply of the fact that we were able to track their results online and we were seeing signs of progress.
Muneer- I applaud you for taking the time to work with the students at Tri-County on this very important skill. Through my experience of virtual classes, I feel students often do not get as much from the material. It sounds like maybe that is a similar experience at your placement. It's great that you recognized the issues with it and/or the necessity for students to have guided practice with typing. Furthermore, continuously coming back to this practice to improve students' skills is of course critical. I appreciate the "service" you provided your students and the importance you placed on the skill that will greatly benefit them to have in school and in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah that it appears that you've provided a real service for your students, Muneer. In the writeup of your assignment I'll be especially interested in two things. First, I imagine that the decision to devote even three days to "skill development" wasn't an easy one, and I'll be interested to read more about the choice you made to spend class time in this way, as opposed to spending it on "content." Secondly, given the focus of our activity on student learning, I'll be very interested to read more about the kinds of choices you made as you winnowed down a semester long typing class into three days...what were the pedagogical decisions that led you to include *this* and to exclude *that*?
ReplyDeleteI, like you, have seen students’ lack of comfort and skill with basic computer skills such as typing. I commend you for recognizing that students have a certain technological deficiency and making time in your classroom to improve your students’ abilities, something that we haven’t taken the time to do sufficiently in my classroom. I am curious to what skills you focused on in typing, how your students took to the activity, and whether they did show improvement. What skills do you think still need further development? I remember having to take a computer class in middle school focusing on typing and how to use the Microsoft Office package. I do not understand why, when technology is becoming more important to our society, why we are not teaching our students these skills. Not a question for you to answer but just one of my worries about education. Again though, what a great idea for your lesson! I just want to know if you thought it was worth the time and if students benefited as I am thinking it may be something I want to incorporate into my own classroom.
ReplyDeleteI, like you, have seen students’ lack of comfort and skill with basic computer skills such as typing. I commend you for recognizing that students have a certain technological deficiency and making time in your classroom to improve your students’ abilities, something that we haven’t taken the time to do sufficiently in my classroom. I am curious to what skills you focused on in typing, how your students took to the activity, and whether they did show improvement. What skills do you think still need further development? I remember having to take a computer class in middle school focusing on typing and how to use the Microsoft Office package. I do not understand why, when technology is becoming more important to our society, why we are not teaching our students these skills. Not a question for you to answer but just one of my worries about education. Again though, what a great idea for your lesson! I just want to know if you thought it was worth the time and if students benefited as I am thinking it may be something I want to incorporate into my own classroom.
ReplyDeleteMuneer,
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome idea for a lesson! Computer skills are so essential to academic and professional life today and I believe that this lesson provides a real service to your students. Its awesome that you recognized a need in your students and found a way to help them improve. Furthermore, I think it is awesome that you are making time to return to this lesson throughout the semester because, like you said, typing isn't something you can learn in a day or two. I am interested to hear more about this lesson and how your students improved. It's great that you're doing something measurable!
I am in love with this idea to infuse your lessons with helping students learn to type. This will both serve them well for life as well move your own writing assignments faster, so spending 3 days will definitely be work it. What are your plans in terms of what software you will be using? Also, it would be great for you to have them establish goals in terms of typing speed.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting conundrum to be dealing with, my dear friend. It is interesting to me that in this modern age, with so many students spending hours on computer screens participating in social media and viewing online content, one would imagine that typing skills are something that require little instruction. Looking back on my childhood, many of my friends spent hour after hour on AIM and other online chat services. Due to this practice, typing skills were never something that needed to be focused on. However, today is a new day! New challenges! New technology! New possibilities! I really think that you suggesting this lesson speaks to your attentiveness to your students' needs. However, how important do you think these skills will be in the future? Do you think we're going to be typing the same way in a few years? That's something to think about! How efficient are your students at texting? Are they super speedy? I kind of think that they might be... for whatever reason. How do you plan to make sure that the skills that you are teaching will be continued to be used? If they're not typing so much already, how do you plan to get the reinforcement time that you need? More in class typing? More AIM? More cowbell?
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Elliot
Mr. Khalid,
ReplyDeleteIn this day and age, being able to type is as, or perhaps almost more, essential as being able to write with a pen and pencil. This post was a very eye opening description of the digital divide experienced by people of color and people with low socioeconomic status (SES). It's interesting to see how just that one seemingly simple skill can open up a new world of knowledge and opportunity for your students. Thank you so much for this insightful and thoughtful post,
Best,
JGG