web-based touch-typing software

For students in today’s information age, learning to type quickly and
accurately is one of the essential skills they learn in school, and one
that will serve them in whatever career they ultimately pursue. But if
we as teachers can agree on the importance of teaching touch-typing, why
are our methods in teaching it so outdated, ineffective, and
uninspiring to students? Even though today more students than ever use a
computer on a daily basis, teachers have been unable to channel
students’ natural interest in computers towards learning how to type
correctly. From my own education, I too well remember the dull and
frustrating typing tutor software of middle and high school, and how
little it taught me. Like others, I continued to “hunt and peck” until
college, when I was finally forced to learn to touch-typing by sheer
necessity.

If you, like me, are interested in a better way to teach typing methods to
our students, allow me to present a solution. First, let me introduce
myself: my name is Tore Olsson, and I’m the Education Outreach
Coordinator for the new TypeRacer School Edition. Since 2008,
Typeracer.com has been one of the most popular competitive game sites on
the Web, attracting more than five million visitors from dozens of
countries across the globe. The concept of TypeRacer is simple – it’s
essentially a marriage of the typing tutor and a racing game.
Competitors go head to head trying to type a certain text, and the one
who finishes first wins the game. Over time, TypeRacer users can chart
their progress, their average words-per-minute score, and their ranking
among all racers.

When I discovered the game, I immediately realized its potential for
educators looking to teach touch-typing. If we can harness the
competitive spirit of our students – which there seems to be little lack
of – and apply it to touch-typing, we could potentially have a typing
revolution on our hands. The new School Edition of TypeRacer, which was
just released this month, has all of the great features of the original
TypeRacer, and many more. With the School Edition, teachers can
create private universes that only their students have access to. In
addition, they can edit, modify, and create their own texts to be used
by students in their races. By merging typing training and course
content, this feature allows teachers to teach both typing skills and
introduce new ideas and concepts to their kids through the texts they
type.

If you haven’t ever used TypeRacer before, please try it out for free at
TypeRacer.com. If you come to share my belief that it has tremendous
potential in the classroom, please visit the School Edition page at http://data.typeracer.com/admin/schools?af=xs5ym. If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me at tolsson@typeracer.com. I’d be more than happy to chat with you about the service and any feedback you may have.

Thanks, and have a great day,

-Tore

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