Posted in Assistive Technology, Eleanor Cawley, M.S., OT, Occupational Therapy

Keyboarding 101

Posted on by Eleanor Cawley
Photo Credit: Michael Maggs
Photo Credit: Michael Maggs

For the purposes of this series on Keyboarding, I will be referring to the standard QWERTY keyboard and 2-button mouse (with center scroll).  The information in this post comes from my memory of past investigations of keyboarding and computer skills.  I researched this topic quite extensively, reviewing the programs of a large number of districts throughout the United States and the standards outlined in ISTE, all of which I found on-line.

The Early Years (Pre-K)

Early computer skills include:

  • Developing accurate mouse skills (accurately reaching and clicking on the target)
  • Activating programming buttons using the mouse
  • Developing attention to the screen and the activity
  • Using ‘POWER’ keys, such as ‘ENTER,’ ‘TAB,’ and ‘SPACE BAR.’
  • Beginning letter recognition by depressing the requested key on the keyboard

When working with little ones, I used to use “Reader Rabbit.”  The kids loved the “Follow Me Theater.”  This is still available from Amazon and has worked on my Windows 7 computers, I am not sure about Windows 8.  This is the type of programming that can support learning, imitation and fine motor movement, in addition to learning mouse skills.  By Kindergarten, kids should be able to recognize and find all the letters in their first name.   He or she should also be able to capitalize the first letter of their name and use lowercase for the remainder of the letters.  Children , at this age, should be able to recognize and identify at least 20 letters [upper and lower case].  It is also a good idea, at this time, to experiment with different fonts–form consistency.

Be very careful not to make the computer the only activity that your child enjoys.  Limit computer time to 10 minutes or so.  Encourage plenty of gross and fine motor activities to prevent your child from developing a sedentary lifestyle.

http://www.rodale.com/computers-and-children
http://www.rodale.com/computers-and-children

 

Author:

I am an occupational therapist with 18 years of experience in the pediatric sector, much of that time as an independent contractor. I am very passionate about my work and my writing. My degrees include a Bachelor’s of Science in Health Sciences and a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy from Touro College. Since graduating as a non-traditional student, I have worked in a variety of settings throughout the life span but settled in the area of school-based therapy. My interests lie in the area of using technology to support independence and I often train students to use programming not only to monitor their own goal progress but also support educational, vocational and life skills. Another area of particular interest is documentation. As an independent contractor for many years, I feel that it is important to align methods of documenting goal progress with educators for greater consistency and understanding when writing for an IEP. It is better to plan a format for documentation used in the IEP, such as for assessment and goal progress and that a rubric, in many ways, fulfills the need for consistency in documentation across all domains. Combining my interest in technology and documentation, I use Microsoft OneNote to maintain all documentation. I create a digital notebook for each student or patient with any forms required uploaded as templates which can then be completed, and saved automatically. I strongly believe in student centered approach to therapy. Students must be active participants in developing goals and documenting progress. In order to help students understand their progress, I teach my students to develop electronic portfolios and to use spreadsheet programming with graphs to collect data and view progress, whenever possible.