WEEK 1
Touch
Typing for Kids: An Essential 21st Century Skill Students are now engaging with the
world through their keyboards more than ever before, recording notes,
completing homework assignments, and even taking standardized tests. For
today’s kids, learning to type from an early age should be alongside learning
to write, read, and perform arithmetic.
What
Is Touch Typing? In contrast with normal typing, touch typing is
simply pressing the keys without looking at them. If you can keep your eyes on
the screen without looking down, you can touch type. This method is more
efficient, less tiring, and comes with some surprising cognitive benefits, as
we’ll see below. Touch typing has a noticeable effect on the brain,
psychologists say. “The single most important thing is if you can type
without looking down… If you can do that, what’s happening in your brain
changes,” says Sue Westwood, a child psychologist. “Muscle memory is a physical
skill—so once it’s trained, it becomes unconscious and …