Dance Mat Typing

For my tech tool, I chose Dance Mat Typing.  As a person who still uses the "hunt and peck" method, I have always been kind of jealous of those who can type with out looking at the keyboard.  I just never learned.  Never took a typing class, never had a reason to learn.  I have tried, but my fingers are huge, and constantly hit the wrong keys.  One of those things that if I had learned earlier, then maybe I would see things differently.

Dance Mat Typing is a website put out by the BBC that uses cute little interactive videos to teach kids to type.  It's best for younger kids, but I did the lesson on the homerow, and found it pretty fun.  The characters are way British, so their accents were fun to listen to.  The whole program is set up around music, and at every step of the way, the characters will pop up and celebrate major milestones that the student accomplishes.  Even mistakes are okay, because instead of telling you you are wrong, the proper key (in a picture on the screen) asks you to hit it instead.  So kids are positively reinforced from every direction.

Computers are not going anywhere.  As our lesson plans rely more and more on computers and their proper use, it is only responsible of us to teach them the basics.  Since most older kids already know these basics, this program would work best for lower grade levels.  Coupling it with reading and/or writing would work great, so that kids are learning multiple skills at the same time.