Typing Pal Online

 A brief description of the Typing Pal pedagogical approach
A brief description of
the Typing Pal
pedagogical approach
This document explains, from an educational point of view, the A brief description of the Typing Pal
main advantages of using Typing Pal to teach typing on a computer keyboard. Typing Pal, which started in the early 1990s, was originally available CD-­‐ROM. In 2000, has the
also been made This document
explains,on from
an educational
point ofit view,
main
available online. Typing Pal has been translated into seven advantages
of using Typingfrom
Pal an
to educational
teach typing
computer
This document
pointonof aview,
the mainkeylanguages and is uexplains,
sed in several countries around the world! pedagogical approach
board. advantages
Typing Pal,
which
started
in teach
the early
was originally
of using
Typing
Pal to
typing1990s,
on a computer
key-
board.
Typing Pal,The
which
started
in the it
early
was originally
available
on CD-ROM.
past
few years,
has1990s,
also been
made availavailable
on CD-ROM.
past translated
few years, it into
has also
beenlanguages
made avail-and
able online.
Typing
Pal hasThe
been
seven
able online. Typing Pal has been translated into seven languages and
is available in several countries.
is available in several countries.
400 Jean-Lesage Boulevard, Suite 540, Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 8W1
400 Jean-Lesage
Suite 540,
Québec
(Québec) Canada G1K 8W1
Toll Free Boulevard,
1 888 458-9143
Phone
(418) 658-9143
Toll Free [email protected]
1 888 458-9143
Phone
(418) 658-9143
school.typingpal.com
www.demarque.com
[email protected]
www.demarque.com
school.typingpal.com
Is the Pal
Typing Pal approach effective? s the Typing
approach
effective?
Typing Pal was the subject of two studies on typing courses. The findings of the first yping Pal wasstudy, the subject
two Lstudies
Theat findings
of the
done by of
Hélène osier of ton
he typing
Faculty ocourses.
f Education the Université de first
tudy, done byMoncton, Hélène N
Losier
of the Faculty
of Education
at the Université de Moncton,
ew Brunswick, are as follows: New Brunswick, are as follows:
Moreover, the observations made throughout the study seemed to indicate Moreover, the
observations
made
throughout
thetyping study cseemed
indicate
the students
taken
that the students having taken the ourse wtoere more that
comfortable and having
faster w
hen composing the second 1
the typing course
comfortable
and faster
when
second
poem
the group
not
poem twere
han more
the group not having received t1he composing
training othe
n the Typing Pal than
software.
[Translation] having received the training on the Typing Pal software. [Translation]
Another study, from Seigneurie-­‐des-­‐Mille-­‐Îles School Board, in Quebec, had similar findings: nother study, conducted at the Seigneurie-des-Milles-Îles School Board, this time in Quebec, had similar findings:
In general, teachers are unanimous in finding the learning procedure offered by Typing Pal Online perfectly In general, teachers are unanimous in finding the learning procedure offered by Typing Pal Online perappropriate for and suited to the needs of students in grades 7 and 8. The students’ enthusiasm for the tool is fectly appropriate for and suited to the needs of students in grades 7 and 8. The students’ enthusiasm
They claim otivation wwas
as m
aintained throughout
throughout the
the entire
entire experimentation. They noticed the students’ for the tool palpable. is palpable.
They
claimmmotivation
maintained
experimentation.
2
typing had improved n terms of increased yping speed typing
and reduced number of enumrrors(…). [Translation] They noticed
the students’
typing ihad
improved
in termstof
increased
speed and
reduced
ber of errors(…).2 [Translation]
We can therefore conclude that the Typing Pal learning method improved typing skills in both cases. We can therefore conclude that the Typing Pal learning method improved typing skills in both cases.
1 Hélène Losier, L’utilisation du logiciel Tap’Touche pour encourager l’écriture à l’ordinateur chez des élèves de 4e année (Master's Thesis in Education presented at the Faculty of Education of the Université de Moncton, 2002), p. 54. 2 Louise Bégin, Rapport sur la recherche-­‐action portant sur l’utilisation de Tap’Touche en ligne dans le cadre du projet « Le Réseau numérique de Hélène Losier, L’utilisation
du» logiciel
Tap’Touche pour encourager
l’écriture
l’ordinateur
des élèves de 4e année (Master's Thesis in Education presentl’éducation (Seigneurie-­‐des-­‐Mille-­‐Îles School Board, 2004), Sàummary page. chez
d at the Faculty of Education of the Université de Moncton, 2002), p. 54.
Louise Bégin, Rapport sur la recherche-action portant sur l’utilisation de Tap’Touche en ligne dans le cadre du projet « Le Réseau numérique de l’éducation »
eigneurie-des-Milles-Îles School Board, 2004), Summary page.
Typing Pal’s main pedagogical aspects The following are the main reasons why the Typing Pal approach is an effective, motivating and simple method for learning how to pedagogical
type: Typing Pal’s
main
aspects
• exercises that gradually increase in difficulty • previously re reviewed on a regular basis he following are
the mainlearned reasonscharacters why the aTyping
Pal approach
is an
effective,
motivating and simple method for learn• f
un c
artoons h
elp k
eep u
sers a
ttention o
n t
he s
creen ng how to type:
• improvement exercises that are tailored to each user’s needs exercises that• gradually
increase
difficulty
Ato brief
of the Typing Pal
customizable practice intexts be used description
across the curriculum previously learned
characters
reviewed
on a pregular
• statistics reports tare
o monitor students’ rogress basis
tools that allow the keep
teacher to personalize he cthe
ourse exciting and • fun
cartoons
help
users
attention ton
screen
• environments appropriate for specific age groups. pedagogical approach
improvement exercises that are tailored to each user’s needs
Thistdocument
explains,
from an educational point of view, the main
teachers can The export
and use
the dstatistics
reports
following sections escribe hese different points. advantages
using Typing Pal to teach typing on a computer key the teacher to personalize
tools that allow
the of
course
appropriate for a specific
board.clientele.
Typing Pal, which started in the early 1990s, was originally
environments
available on CD-ROM. The past few years, it has also been made avail-
he following sections describe these different
able online.points.
Typing Pal has been translated into seven languages and
is available in several countries.
400 Jean-Lesage Boulevard, Suite 540, Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 8W1
Toll Free 1 888 458-9143
Phone (418) 658-9143
[email protected]
school.typingpal.com
www.demarque.com
Learning how to type
Before introducing new characters in an exercise, Typing Pal provides written
instructions,
a cartoon character, to explain how to properly
Learning along
how with
to type
type these characters.
Before introducing new characters in an exercise, Typing Pal provides written
instructions,
with
to explain how to properly
Learning halong
ow typea cartoon
in ordercharacter,
The
exercises
areto placed
from least to most difficult and introduce
type
these characters.
noBefore more
than two
new
characters
at a time
to Pkeep
user motivation
introducing new characters in an exercise, Typing al provides w
ritten i
nstructions, a
long w
ith a
c
artoon c
haracter, t
o high.
Experience
in
the
field,
for
example
during
training
sessions,
The exercises are placed in order from least to most difficult and introduce
explain h
ow t
o p
roperly t
ype t
hese c
haracters. showed
increased
aftermotivation
the first exercise
no morethat
thanthe
twodifficulty
new characters
at a significantly
time to keep user
high. Experience
thecharacters
field, for example
training
sessions,
because,
adding in
two
forced during
users to
use four
fingers rather
The exercises are placed in order from least to most difficult and showed
that
the
difficulty
increased
significantly
after
the
first
than
two.no more than two new characters at a time to keep user exercise
introduce because, adding two characters forced users to use four fingers rather
motivation high. Experience showed that the difficulty increased than
two.toaother
Contrary
Typing
Pal uses
short exercises to break the monotony and to prevent, due to
significantly fter the approaches,
first exercise because, adding two characters forced users to use four fatigue,
fingers rather than in
two. excessive
workload,
which
turn,
can be the root of bad habits.
Contrary to other approaches, Typing Pal uses short exercises to break the monotony and to prevent, due to an
excessive
workload,
fatigue,
inshort turn,exercises can be tthe
rootthe of mbad
habits.
Unlike other approaches, Typing which
Pal uses o break onotony and to prevent fatigue due to an Then, the characters are revisited in the following exercises, creating the opportunity to practice them on a re
excessive workload, which in turn can be the root of bad habits. Then, the characters are revisited in the following basis.
Moreover,
every
four
orto five
exercises,
Typing
Pal creating
presents
a erecap
activity
all theTyping characters
learned u
Then,
theccharacters
revisited
in
the
following
the
opportunity
to eof
practice
on
exercises, reating the oare
pportunity practice them on aexercises,
regular basis. Moreover, very four or five xercises, them
Pal a regular
that
point.
Craig
Nansen,
thecfive
Technology
Coordinator
forCraig Minot
Public
and
Typingfor Pal Online
basis.
Moreover,
every
exercises,
Typing
a recap
activity
of all the
characters
learned
up touser, c
presents a recap activity ofour
f all tor
he haracters learned up to Pal
that presents
point. Nansen, the TSchools
echnology Coordinator that
this
structure
ensures
the
repetition
learn:
that
point.
Craig
Nansen,
the
Coordinator
for
Minot Public
Schools
and Typing
Online
Minot Public Schools and Typing PTechnology
al O
nline user, cneeded
laims that to
this structure ensures the repetition needed Pal
to learn: user, claims
that this structure ensures the repetition needed to learn:
Keyboarding
motor
skill.
a matter
of training
fingers
to respond
correctly
and
Keyboarding is ais maotor skill. It is Ita is
matter of training fingers to respond correctly and quickly Keyboarding
is
a
motor
skill.
It
is
a
matter
of
training
fingers
to
respond
correctly
and
quickly
to
press
the
correct
key
kind
of
like
in
athletics
where
you
keep
doing
it
over
to press the correct key kind of like in athletics where you keep doing it over and over again and
quickly
toecomes pressuntil
the
correct
keyo-f kind
of Years
likehave in of
athletics
where
keep
doing
it over
and
over
it becomes
habit.
have
been
done
on
the
correct
way to
until it bagain
habit. Years research bresearch
een done on you
the correct way to teach these over
again
until
it
becomes
habit.
Years
of
research
have
been
done
on
the
correct
way
tonot
teach
these
skills.found This research
drills
with key
only to
skills. This research the drills dfound
ealing the
with key dealing
combinations not combinations
only to develop these teach these skills. This research found the drills dealing with key combinations not only to
develop
these
way but
alsoskills to develop
those
so Tthey
motor skills the qmotor
uickest skills
way bthe
ut aquickest
lso to develop those so they w
on’t bskills
e lost. here won’t
is a be
develop these motor skills the quickest way but also to develop those skills so they won’t be
lost.
There
is
a
reason
for
those
fff
fjf
jfj
jjj
drills.
reason f
or t
hose f
ff f
jf j
fj j
jj d
rills. lost. There is a reason for those fff fjf jfj jjj drills.
To become aan
n effective typist, you hyou
thave
o get uto
sed to aused
language’s ost common most
syllable combinations and wcombinations
ords. This is ToTo
become
effective
typist,
get
am
language’s
common
syllable
become
an
effective
typist,
youave have
to get
used
to a to
language’s
most common
syllable combinations
and words.and wo
why, a
s s
oon a
s T
yping P
al c
an f
orm w
ords w
ith t
he c
haracters k
nown b
y t
he u
ser, t
hese a
re i
ncorporated i
nto t
he This
soonasasTyping
Typing
form
words
the characters
by the
user,
are incorpora
Thisisis why,
why, as soon
PalPal
cancan
form
words
withwith
the characters
knownknown
by the user,
these
arethese
incorporated
exercises. intothe
the exercises.
exercises.
into
Why the cartoons under the exercises? Why
the cartoons
cartoons under
exercises?
Why
the
underthe
the
exercises?
During t
he e
xercises, t
here i
s a
n a
musing c
artoon at the bat
ottom of the window will react according to waccording
hether the to
During
the
exercises,
there
is
an
amusing
cartoon
the the
bottom
of thethat window
that
will react
A brief description
of
Typing
Pal
During
the
exercises,
character typed is correct there
or not. is an amusing cartoon at the bottom of the window that will react according to
whether the character typed is correct or not.
pedagogical approach
whether the character typed is correct or not.
These cartoons serve two purposes: These cartoons serve two purposes:
•To learn not to look at the keyboard; the user watches the cartoon and therefore spends less time looking at the These
cartoons
two
• To learn
not toserve
look at
thepurposes:
keyboard; the user watches the cartoon and therefore spends less time looking at
keyboard. • To
not to look at the
keyboard;
the
user
watches
the
document
from an
educational
point of
view,cartoon
the main and therefore spends less time lookin
thelearn
keyboard.
•To break the monotony by aThis
musing the uexplains,
ser, which makes the course more interesting. keyboard.
•the
To break
the monotony advantages
by amusing
theTyping
user, Pal
which
makes
of using
to teach
typingthe
on acourse
computermore
key- interesting.
• To
break
the
monotony
by amusing
the started
user,oinn which
makes
the al course
Other typing tools show a keyboard with m
oving tthe
he early
screen. Typing never amore
dopted interesting.
this approach because board. Typing
Pal,
whichfingers 1990s,
was Poriginally
Other
typing
tools show
keyboard
with moving fingers
we believe it contradicts the acore objective, available
on
CD-ROM.
The past
few years, it has also been made availon
thetyping
Typing
Pal
never
this
approach
which is screen.
to learn without looking at tadopted
he Other
tools
show
a keyboard
with
moving
fingers
ableuser online.
has been translated
because
we
believe
contradicts
core
objective,
which isinto seven languages and
keyboard. We do Typing
not it
want the tthe
o lTyping
ook at Pal
on
the screen.
Pal
never
adopted
this approach
to
learn
without
atisethe
keyboard.
We
do not want
the keyboard, so wlooking
e will not ven display n available
in several
countries.
because
we
believe
it contradicts
theit ocore
objective, which is
the user
screen: e prefer to keyboard,
forget about In awill
ny not even display
the
to wlook
at the
soit. we
toitcase, learn
without
looking
at
the
keyboard.
We
do not want
it is iscreen:
mpossible follow tothe movement on the
weto prefer
forget
about it. In any case, it is
the
look
at the
so
we will
not while
evenyou
display
of tuser
hese to
hands while ythe
ou akeyboard,
re typing, which impossible
to
follow
movement
of these
hands
itare
on
the
screen:
we
prefer
to
forget
about
it.
In
any
case,
it is
makes this functionality pointless. typing,
which makes
this functionality
pointless.
follow the movement of these hands while you
impossible to
Typing Pmakes
al is the this
only functionality
tool to offer pointless.
are typing, which
cartoons. Typing
Pal is the only tool to offer cartoons.
400 Jean-Lesage Boulevard, Suite 540, Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 8W1
Toll Free 1 888 458-9143
Phone (418) 658-9143
Typing Pal is the
only tool to school.typingpal.com
offer cartoons.www.demarque.com
[email protected]
Improving with Typing Pal
Improving
with
PalPal Improving wTyping
ith Typing Typing
Pal
offers
users
improvement
exercises based on their personal statistics.
Typing Pal
offers
exercises
based
onon their
Typing Pal users
offers improvement
users improvement exercises based their personal
personal sstatistics.
tatistics. The software identifies the user’s The
software
identifies
the
user’s
weaknesses
in
terms
of
accuracypractice and speed.
It then
creates
personalized
weaknesses in terms of accuracy and speed. It then creates personalized exercises to help the user work on his practice
or The software
identifies
the
user’s
weaknesses
in
terms
of
accuracy
and
speed.
It
then
creates
personalized
practice
exercises
to
help
the
user
work
on
his
or
her
weaknesses.
her weaknesses. exercises to help the user work on his or her weaknesses.
The
The exercises
exercises proposed
proposed target
target the
the following
following ppoints:
oints: The exercises proposed target
the
following
points:
• I
mproved a
ccuracy • improved accuracy
• Improved speed • improved
accuracy
• improved speed
• T
he m
ost c
hallenging fingers • improved speed
• the
fingers • The most
most cchallenging
hallenging keystrokes • the most
challenging
fingers
• The most
most cchallenging
hallenging characters • the
keystrokes
• the most challenging keystrokes
• the most challenging characters
• the most challenging characters
The statistics The statistics are compiled after each step. Typing Pal indicates both the speed in “words per minute” and the number of errors. The teacher can export the statistics report and use them in a The
statistics
spreadsheet or text processing. The statistics
The statistics are compiled after each step.
The statistics
are
each
step. per
Typing
Palcompiled
indicates
both
the “words
Personalizing the after
course
Typing minute”
Pal indicates
boththe
thenumber
“words of
pererrors. The
rate and
The c
an p
ersonalize t
he minute”teacher
rateteacher and
the
number
of
errors.
The and use
can export the statistics report
learning e
xperience b
y c
hanging t
he teacherthem
can export
the statistics
report
and use
in a spreadsheet
or text
processing.
speed (measured in words per them in target a spreadsheet
or text processing.
minute) and the accuracy target (in %) for the whole group or for specific students. The order in which Personalizing
the course
the exercises and practice texts are proposed to the students can Personalizing
the
course
The
can apersonalize
the
learning
procedure
by changing
the target speed (measured in words per minute)
also teacher
be changed, s well as their content. Being able to change the 1
The teacher
personalize
learning
byreviewing changing
the target
speed
(measured
words
per
minute)
texts’ llows learning procedure
tand
o type while information from other sin
chool subjects. orpractice thecan
order
incontent whichathe
the
exercises
practice
texts areimportant proposed,
not
to mention
their
content.
or the order in which the exercises and practice texts are proposed, not to mention their content.1
Environments A brief description of the Typing Pal
Environments
Environments
Teachers
environments
Teachers can
can cchoose
hoose sspecific
pecific environments
for their groups. There are four environments to choose from: pedagogical approach
Teachers
choose
specific
forcan
their
groups.
areprimary four environ• The Super PThere
aws, fenvironments
or for their
groups.
There
are
four
environments:
school students ments:
• TGIF environment, fThis
or m
iddle explains, from an educational point of view, the main
document
The 7 toschool 10 Years
olds
environment,
for pristudents, advantages of using
The 7 to
10 Years
environment,
pri- Typing Pal to teach typing on a computer keymary
schoololds
students,
the TGIFforenvironment
• The Office environment, for Typing
Pal,enviwhich started in the early 1990s, was originally
mary school
students,
thestudents,
TGIF board.
environment
for middle
school
the
Office
high school and professional for middle
school
the available
Office on
environment
forstudents,
high school
students
and
the
CD-ROM.
The past few years, it has also been made availstudents Classic
environment
for the
general
public.
ronment
for high
school students
and
the
able online. Typing Pal has been translated into seven languages and
• The Classic nvironment, for Classic environment
for ethe
general public.
is available in several countries.
everyone. 1
1 For the time being, you can modify the order of the practice texts and their content only in the Classic environment.
For the time being, you can modify the order of the practice texts and their content only in the Classic environment.
400 Jean-Lesage Boulevard, Suite 540, Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 8W1
400 Free
Jean-Lesage
Boulevard,
Québec(Québec)
(Québec)
Canada
G1K G1K
8W1 8W1
Toll
1 888
458-9143
Phone
(418)
658-9143
400 Jean-Lesage
Boulevard,
Suite Suite
540,540,
Québec
Canada
Toll Free 1 888 458-9143
Phone (418) 658-9143
[email protected]
school.typingpal.com
school.typingpal.com
Toll Free [email protected]
1 888 458-9143
Phone (418)
658-9143
[email protected]
school.typingpal.com
www.demarque.com
www.demarque.com
www.demarque.com