Industry News
First off, Chris Bates, sales manager for NetBuilder.com, said he was surprised that touch typing was not taught: 'Technology is the life blood of a school these days so anything which makes it easier and safer to use has to be a good thing. Teaching and learning is never going to return to those old fashioned pre-Covid methods so schools should be embracing the change.'
Laura Smith from LGFL was keen for schools to promote touch typing. The London Grid for Learning is expanding across the country and has always been 'a keen advocate for children with additional needs: 'Touch typing helps those children who struggle with spelling, for example children with dyslexia and dyspraxia and it is a great preparation for later life.' Research shows that touch typing lets children exploit their kinaesthetic skills and as they learn patterns on the keyboard for the most commonly used words, their spelling improves.
Not just exams
Teaching Times also spoke to a classroom teacher from Walsall who said that while they could see the value of touch typing, 'a focus on handwriting is essential because children need it for exams'. This is a fine example of the tail wagging the dog. Education has many purposes but it must prepare children for their future lives as students, as employees and as citizens.
Those who go on to further and higher education will be producing long assignments which cannot be handwritten. Employers are looking for young people who can use Word or Google Docs and find their way around a spreadsheet, while Covid has shown that digital citizenship is essential and those who lack the skills miss out on vital information, especially from the government.