Keyboarding

Keyboarding! The memories of computer classes in elementary school are all flooding back to me!

The first site I tried was www.typingstudy.com. This site would be great for beginners! It gives you step by step instructions and introductions to the keyboard and gives you practices that help your fingers get used to being where they are supposed to be on the keyboard. It take your through each row of letters with exercises to help teach your fingers. At the same time, it keeps record of your speed and accuracy.

The second site I tried was atypingtest.com. This site is not for beginners, but it meant to help improve typing skills rather than teach them. There are several options available to help with keyboarding skills and speed. I took a few tests that present a paragraph on the screen. Once you begin typing, the computer times you for 60 seconds, pointing out our your errors and showing you where you are in the text by changing the font color for every letter you type. At the end of 60 seconds, it tells you your wpm typing speed as well as your accuracy. I consistently scored 74 wpm, with a not so good (40%) accuracy. I suppose my accuracy in typing is usually better on Word thanks to autocorrect! The website also had game options that let you try and increase your typing speed in a fun and competitive way. i enjoyed this site's test because you can continue to retake them and see your improvement.

The third site I tried was play.typeracer.com which was a lot of fun because it involved competitions between real people! I signed in a guest, but if I wanted to I could sign up for an account name. I played 3 other people who are out there somewhere on their computers :). We each had a paragraph and as we typed, the screen showed a car that moved along the track in proportion to our speed. I came in second place of of five! You can also look up the fastest typers on the website--some typing as many as 143 wpm!