Keyboarding is not the most exciting skill to learn, but it is one of the most important. Computers are everywhere in our world, from the desktop or laptop computers you might use at school or at home to computers that are used to run banks, create websites, track patient care at hospitals, design video games, control where airplanes go, sell products, or send rockets into space. Just about every business relies on computers in one way or another. And all of these computers have keyboards that people use to type in commands and make them do what we need them to do. That's why it's important to learn to type well.
You might think that you can get by with sticking to touch-screen devices or using the two-finger hunt-and-peck method to type, but you'll be a lot better off if you learn to touch-type. Desktop and laptop computers are more powerful than most touch-screen devices, and once you get the hang of it, you'll also find that touch-typing is a whole lot faster than any other method of getting the thoughts in your head onto a screen. Once you get really good at typing, you'll be able to type just about as fast as you can think! And you're likely to use this skill for a long time, both while you're in school or at college and when you're out in the working world as an adult.
Learning to type and getting better and faster at typing can be boring, but it doesn't have to be. While you're likely to find that repeating the same exercises over and over will make you better at typing faster, you can also mix things up by trying out a fun typing game. People are constantly creating new ways to make learning your way around a keyboard fun, from games that ask you to type whole words quickly to ones that rely on typing one letter at a time to catch a fish, pop a balloon, or even save a planet! There are also lots of typing tests online, so you can check your skills to see how you're doing. Over time, the more you practice, the more your typing speed and accuracy should improve.
Getting Started With J, F, and Space
Typing.com offers a full keyboarding curriculum, starting with this lesson that can help you master the first two keys plus the space bar.
Typing Club can walk you through the steps of learning how to type in a way that makes sense for your grade level and isn't boring.
Ratatype has free tests and typing lessons you can use to get better at keyboarding.
Type the words as they fall, pressing the enter key after each one. See how high your score can get before the screen floods!
See how fast you can type, then practice typing and try to improve your speed.
This game gets you started typing real words and phrases right away, so you won't get bored while you learn.
Mastering the QWERTY Keyboard, Lesson 1
This website has lots of typing lessons to give you plenty of practice and help you improve your skills. Before you know it, you'll be ready for the business world!
Keybr tests your ability to accurately type different letters as you work your way through the text.
Type the words to keep them from hitting and blowing up your base in this fun game.
Type full sentences to get a measurement of your typing speed and accuracy.
Start here with the first lesson, then work your way through the rest to learn how to type with Type Dojo.
Type the letters on the fish at the right time to catch the fish in this game.
Start with the home-row keys, then master the rest of the keyboard one lesson at a time.
These typing exercises might seem sort of boring, but they're very effective if you want to become really good at typing.
Try this exercise to see how fast you can type in words per minute.
Having good keyboarding skills starts with proper body positioning.