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typing software for children and Dvorak
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: east of the time line
Status:
Offline
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Does anyone have any recommendations for software for children to learn how to type?
I know there are a whole slew of them on download sites like zdnet and cnet, but I wanted to know if anyone on these forums has any experience with them - and especially for children.
Also, I'm tempted to get my boys started on Dvorak. Any Dvorak users out there? Any thoughts? I'm not a Dvorak user myself, but I think if I was starting over I'd probably go that way. However, with small children I'm wondering if seeing one thing on the keyboard and something else on the screen might confuse them.
As usual opinions and thoughts gratefully recieved.
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Basil
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I haven't used any software lately, but two tips:
With recent versions of the Mac OS, you can easily switch between the qwerty keyboard and Dvorak. When you turn on Dvorak in the Keyboard control panel, a menu is added near the end of the menu bar. Use this menu to switch between keyboard layouts.
The KeyCaps desk accessory on every Mac shows you the current keyboard layout. And KeyCaps highlights each key as you type. So your boys can see the (virtual) keyboard. And of course, you can draw letters on the physical keys as well.
--Basil
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Lefebvre
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I've used the Mavis Beacon package (v8 I believe is the latest) and I am pleased with it. It does take up several tens of MBs of hard drive space if you load up all the multimedia stuff, but they are fun for young kids. It does a little too much of "the rah-rah, good job" for an adult or "sophisticated" child sometimes, but it is easy to ignore.
Regarding Dvorak, there are people devoted to it, but there are no objective studies by 3rd parties showing it is better than QWERTY. (The only studies claiming that were done by Dvorak). Most point out that the relief from RSI gained by switching is more from making different motions, not anything inherent to Dvorak. This was discussed on the TidBITS Talk list a while back. Search http://www.tidbits.com for more info.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Shorter, AL
Status:
Offline
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By far the best typing trainer for children was Type Attack which ran on the old Commodore 64. I taught about a dozen kids with it and it was great. Since access to Dvorak keyboards only requires a software switch, I would go ahead and teach Dvorak now. Back in typewriter days, finding a machine was nearly imposible.
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eschew obfuscation
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