Diana  King  Method  for  Touch  Typing  
 
Teaching  Fluent  Keyboarding    
 
 
Introducing  Letters  in  ABC  Order  
With  Practice  Words  
For  Developing  Fluent  Keyboarding    
 
A  Simple,  Low-­‐Tech  Method    
for  Teaching  a  Necessary  High-­‐Tech  Skill  
 
 
 
 
By  Donald  L.  Potter  
February  27,  2014  
 
 
 Diana  King  Method  for  Touch  Typing  
 Your  Name:  ____________________________________  Date:  ______________________________________    
1. Fingers are placed over the “Home Base” keys. **Apple bumps help! Your left hand fingers
cover A, S, D, and F; and your right hand fingers cover J, K, L, and;. Your right thumb rests on
the spacebar, regardless of whether you are right-handed or left-handed. The G and H keys are
free in the center. Create a mnemonic for these letters. (ex. Go Home) All other keys are “HOT”
so your fingers get off them quickly and go back to “Home Base.”

2. Press A with the little finger on your left hand saying, “little finger A.” Repeat until automatic.

3. Use the left index finger for B. Say, “little finger A, reach for the B.” Practice A and B until
automatic.

4. Using the left middle finger, press and say, “middle finger left does C, D, E.” Practice
ABCDE until automatic.

5. Using the left index finger, press and say, “left pointer slides from F to G.” Practice
ABCDEFG until automatic.

6. Use the right pointer finger to press H. Say, “H is struck by the pointer on the right.” Using
your right middle finger, reach up for the I. Press and say, “Right middle up for I—outta sight.”
Practice ABCDEFGHI until automatic.

7. Using the first three fingers of your right hand, press and say, “J, K, L are three in a row.”
When automatic, practice ABCDEFGHIJKL.

8. Using only the right index finger, press and say, “M and N are just below.” When automatic,
practice ABCDEFGHIJKLMN.

9. Reach for the O using the right ring finger. Press and say, “Right ring finger goes up to O.”
When automatic, practice ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO.

10. Using the little fingers, press and say, “P and Q are the ‘littles,’ you know.” Practice. When
automatic, practice ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ.
11. R, S, T is an awkward triangle, so verbalize this. Say, “Index finger R, ring finger S, index
finger T.” Practice until automatic, then ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST.

12. Using the right pointer finger for U and the left pointer finger for V, press and say, “U is for
up while V points down.” Practice until automatic, then ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV.
13. Using the left ring finger, press and say, “W and X make the ring move around.” Practice
until automatic and then ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX.
14. Use your right pointer for Y and your left pinkie finger for Z. Press and say, “Point up for Y,
pinkie down for Z.” Now you have them all!
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.

  1  
 The Diana King Typing Poem

Little finger A, reach for the B,

Middle finger left does C, D, E,
Left pointer slides from F to G.

H is struck by the pointer on the right.

Right middle up for I—outta sight!

J, K, L are three in a row;

M and N are just below.
Right ring finger goes up to O;
P and Q are the “littles,” you know.

R, S, T are on the left side of town.

U is for up, while V points down.
W and X make the ring move around.

Point up for Y; pinkie down for Z.

Now you have them all, you see

  2  
 Words for Practicing Typing
by Donald L. Potter

February 26, 2014

Lesson 1

Home  Base  Keys:  asdf  jkl;  space  

Lesson 2
a:  a,  aaa,  A,  Aa  (Start  each  practice  sessions  typing  all  the  alphabet  letters  learned.)    
 
b:  b  bbb  ab  ba  ab  bab  aba  babb  Ab  B  Bab    
                                                   
Lesson 4
c:    c    ccc  abc  cab  abaca    C  Cab
d:  d  ddd  abcd  dab  bad  dad  cad  add  D  Dad  
e:  e  eee  abcde  bed  dead  deed  bead  Abe  ace  bee  babe  E  Ed  
                                                   
Lesson 5

f:  f  fff  abcdef  fad  fed  feed  deaf  fade  fee  F  Feb    

g:    g  ggg  abcdefg  gab  gad  gag  fag  badge  edge  cage  beg  age  aged  beg  bag    
         G  Gabe    
Lesson 6

h:     h  hhh  abcdefgh  had  head  hag  header  chaff  chef  heed  headed  heeded    
           H  Hebb  
i:      i  iii  abcdefghi  biff  big  bid  hid  hide  bide  fig  gig  dig  bib  chief  did  gig  ice  
         hick  aid  bade  high  I  Ida    
 
 
 
 
 

  3  
 Lesson 7

j:      j  jjj  abcdefghij  jag  jig  jab  jib  jade  jibe  jiff  J  Jade    
k:    k  kkk  abcdefghijk  kid  jack  back  hack  beck  kick  deck  Dick  beck  keg  hick    
           K  Kidd    
l:        l  lll  abcdefghijkl  lab  lad  led  lag  leg  glad  life  flick  black  bled  lead  lid  dig    
           gall  calf  kill  lade  dial  laid  leak  lick  lack  leaf  feel  keel  call  fall  ball  glee    
           leaf  L  Lad  
Lesson 8
 
m:    m  mmm  abcdefghijklm  mad  bam  dam  ham  him  hem  cam  came  jam  mike    
           gem  game  mill  milk  fame  lame  blame  meal  lamb  dame  mail  jam  male    
           mall  Kim  make  meek  mime  lime  climb  Jim  M  Maggie      
n:    n  nnn  abcdefghijklmn  can  ban  nab  nag  neck  man  men  knack  knee  gang    
         dangle  kin  gin  name  angle  land  hand  kin  nail  knife  knell  jingle  Jean    
         K  Kim.  
Lesson 9

o:      o  ooo  abcedfghijklmno  on  of  bog  fog  dog  cog  log  flog  off  of  nod  odd  job    
           cob  bob  mob  home  comb  bomb  old  fold  mold  God  mom  mock  clock    
           gold  cold  code  mole  roll  role  coal  long  foil  boil  hoe  hone  dome  come  go    
           gone  cone  nock  lock  look  cool  doggie  golf  gone  knock  knob  John    
           O  Ogden.  

Lesson 10
 
p:    p  ppp  abcedfghijklmnop  gap  pail  paid  pill  cap  cop  jip  lap  lip  clip  hip  dip    
         map  mop  flap  flip  fop  nap  pin  pen  pan  nip  pack  plan  palm  map  lope    
         hope  pencil  pop  hop  pin  pond  pick  pole  pledge  apple  dapple  paddle    
         chapel  P  Pam.  
q:    q  qqq  abcedfghijklmnopq  Q  (See  u  for  words.)  
 

  4  
 Lesson 11
 
r:    r  rrr  abcedfghijklmnopqr  or  rag  rig  rap  rip  ran  rain  bar  far  mar  mark  dark    
         brag  car  ear  fear  rear  jar  ram  rim  drag  rib  rack  raid  rail  read  robin  rock    
         radio  ride  rope  grope  grace  brace  race  brim  brick  brig  brand  grand  grin    
         grad  roar  rebel  radical  ridge  frog  free  large  roll  ginger  R  Robin.  
s:    s  sss  abcdefghijklmnopqrs  so  as  is  gas  ask  sand  sip  slap  horse  lash  slosh    
         sop  sap  has  sip  sis  sin  lass  has  hiss  lass  hose  ship  shop  rash  sharp  pass    
         scam  scan  scar  sage  see  seeds  sea  school  scold  scamp  some  risk  science    
         scone  shone  shock  scoop  scroll  scream  soldier  screech  scribble  sack    
         scorn  snack  slack  scram  sock  screen  scene  sand  shake  shell  shoes  farms    
         charms  bash  hash  harm  rash  sap  loss  moss  miss  mass  simple  sample    
         S  Sammie    
t:    t  ttt  abcdefghijklmnopqrst  to  at  too  tab  tap  tip  top  ton  tan  bitter  hotter  tag    
         pot  pat  pit  lit  train  trash  the  those  thank  get    tank  at  mat  sat  hat  ten  tend    
         tell  lot  hot  list  rate  late  fate  tramp  faith  taste  haste  paste  tick  till  tall  tail    
         right  bright  flat  tin  them  tar  last  list  got  gloat  gnat  jet  roast  mart  sat  seat    
         T  Tom.    

Lesson 12

u:  u  uuu  abcdefgjijklmnopqrstu  up  bun  fun  gun  bus  sub  caught  fought  usher    
         sun  mutt  nut  put  use  uncle  shut  under  hut  junk  luck  lump  pup  under    
         user  uncle  urge  group  gulf  glue  glut  rub  run  summer    U  Uriah.  
qu:  qu  qu  qu  qu  quick  quack  quad  qualm  quarrel  quit  quantity  quarter    
             quail  quill  quilt  squirrel  squeal  question  quench  quick  qualm  Q  Queen.    
v:    v  vvv  abcdefgjijklmnopqrstuv  vim  have  laver  valve  oval  van  vat  vast  over    
         hover  savage  savior  vigor  love  victory  value  vote  vase  valve  leave    
         vogue  valet  grave  stave  stove  grove  veal  violet  verge  vest  lavender  gave    
         V  Vance  

  5  
 Lesson 13

w:    w  www  abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw  what  when  who  where  while  wheel    

           whale  whack  well  west  want  went  wave  know  knew  work  word  worm    
           worth  walk  watt  weasel  weave  web  webbing  wedding  wedge  wedlock    
           weed  wait  weird  brawl  pawn  W  Wilmington.    
wr:    wr  wr  wr  wr  wrong  wreck  wrestle  wrench  witch  wring  wreath  wretch  
             wrinkle  wrist  Wr  Wrangler  Wright.    
x:      x  xxx  abcdefghijklmnopoqrstuvwx  fax  tax  fox  box  lax  sax  six  max  mix  nix    
           fix  crux  axel  axis  flex  hoax  mix  ox  oxen  taxi  exam  exile  expel    extra  pixie    
           relax  reflex  coax  exit  mixture  remix  exciting  relaxation  x-­‐‑ray  X  Xavier.    

Lesson 14  
 

 y:  y  yyy  abcdefgjijklmnopqrstuvwxy  yo-­‐‑yo  yet  yes  you  yellow  way  say  tray    
           may  baby  they  lay  stay  year  yearn  yeast  young  youth  yawn  yell  lay  day    
           clay  hay  bay  today  Monday  Tuesday  Wednesday  Thursday  Friday    
           Saturday  Sunday  yesterday  why  cry  worthy  stray  by  my  dry  fly  guy    
           busy  history  only  city  secretary  any  many  bunny  nanny  mystery  system    
           cyclone  type  lady  yarn  yacht  yield  yip  yippee  yikes  yet  yew  year  you    
           yoga  yodel  yogurt  yuck  yucca  every  journey  quantity  Y  Yvonne    
           Yellowstone  Yakima  Yahweh  Yorktown  Yosemite  Yukon  Yugoslavia    
z:    z  zzz  abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz  zag  zap  zeal  zealot  zebra  zoo  zero  zip    
           zipper  ziti  zone  zonked  adz  jazz  waltz  lizard  wizard  lazy  crazy  prize    
           haze  maze  ozone  jazz  blaze  glazed  braze  Z  Zechariah.  Zaire  Zen  Zeus    
           Zoe  Zulu  Zurich  
   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  6  
 Sentences Containing All the Letters of the Alphabet

Pangrams

1. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. (35 letters)
2. How quickly daft jumping zebras. (27 letters)
3. The five boxing wizards jump quickly. (31 letters)
3. The five boxes perform quick waltzes and jigs. (38 letters)
4. Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute box. (48 letters)
6. A quart jar of oil mixed with zinc oxide makes a very bright color. (53 letters)
7. The job requires pluck and zeal from very young wage earners. (50 letters)
8. Crazy Frederica brought many very exquisite opal jewels. (60 letters)
9. The public was amazed to view the quickness and dexterity of the juggler.
(60 letters)
10. We promptly judged antique ivory buckles for the next prize. (50 letters)
11. Mr. Potter wrote this pangram to see how hard it might be to write a sentence
containing all the letters in the alphabet and to help you very quickly zero in on
the cursive connections. (35 letters)

Calculating Letter (Strokes) Typing Fluency in Letters Per Minute

Letters per minute (LPM) = 60 x letter count divided by seconds needed to write the sentence.
Example: The student wrote Pangram #10 in 25 seconds. 50 x 60 = 3000. 3000/25 = 120 LPM.
Deduce one letter for each typo.

 
 
 

  7  
 The Diana King Typing Poem
Poem-Lesson Correlations

Steps Keyboarding Poem

1.Home Keys

2. A Little finger A,
3. B Reach for B
4. CDE Middle finger left does C, D, E,
5. FG Left pointer slides from F to G.

6. HI H is struck by the pointer on the right.

Right middle up for I—outta sight!

7. JKL J, K, L are three in a row;

8. MN M and N are just below.
9. O Right ring finger goes up to O;
10. PQ P and Q are the “littles,” you know.

11. RST R, S, T are on the left side of town.

12. UV U is for up, while V points down.
13. WX W and X make the ring move around.

14. YZ Point up for Y; pinkie down for Z.

Now you have them all, you see

  8  
 Note  from  Internet  Publisher:  Donald  L,  Potter  
February  26,  2014  
 
Mr.   Potter   originally   developed   these   words   lists   for   teaching   cursive  
handwriting  on  January  30,  2011.  Before  that  he  had  started  to  develop  them  
to  teach  Morse   Code  in  ABC  order,  when  he  taught  Amateur  Radio  Classes  for  
the   Ector   County   ISD   for   seven   years.   Mr.   Potter   has   an   Extra   Class   Amateur  
Radio  License  (NG5W).    
Remember   that   fluency   is   defined   as   accuracy   plus   speed.   Put   accuracy   first  
and  practice  daily;  and  before  you  know  it,  the  students  will  be  fluent  typists.    
Here  is  a  good  general  document  explaining  fluency.  
http://www.fluency.org/Binder_Haughton_Bateman.pdf    
An  mp3  audio  file  is  available  that  walks  the  students  through  all  14-­‐Steps  in  
the  program.    
The   explanation   of   the   program   comes   from   the   following   URL.   I   just   added  
practices   words   and   the   Pangrams   (sentences   using   all   the   letters   of   the  
alphabet.)  
http://faweb.loyolablakefield.org/ClassDocuments/4797/Diana_King_Method_Touch_Typing.pdf

Practice Steps: Practice the alphabet as learned, continue until automatic speed increases.
Continue in the following manner:
1. Alphabet followed by A – period – space – space
B – period – space - space
2. Alphabet followed by A – comma – space
B – comma – space
3. Above followed by dictated one-syllable words.
4. Above followed by dictated lists of common words.
Last revised 5/28/2014. Thanks to fifth grader Zachary Marquez, the first student to complete the program, for
helping with editing. His fluent typing skills are living proof that the method works! Thanks to my second student,
Marina Armandariz, also in fifth grade, for helping with further development of the program.

  9  
 Teaching Fluent Keyboarding Skills
By Michael Maloney
Practical Homeschooling 37, 2005

With the introduction of the personal computer, keyboarding skills have taken on new
importance. Prior to having our own data systems, for a period of a century or more
“keyboarding” was generally known as “typing.” Typing was usually reserved as curriculum for
those students who might be entering the world of business. This was especially true if the
students happened to be young women who were not entering the academic stream. Whole
generations of young women went to secondary school business courses as a precursor to
working in offices. There they learned numerous general procedures used in offices of the day,
including how to type fluently and how to take dictation, using shorthand.
All of that changed with the introduction of the personal computer. The day of the “steno pool”
in large offices has long gone. Increasingly, even top executives need to be able to enter
information into their personal computers without the aid of dictation or a secretary. With this
technological shift during the past 25 years, everyone has needed to develop fluent keyboarding
skills.
The next major paradigm shift may occur as computers begin to be able to recognize speech so
that information can be entered verbally. For “speech recognition” ever to became the standard,
programs will have to be able to cope with regional accents, slurred and lazy diction, and even
the stuffed-up sound of someone speaking with a head cold! While there has been progress in
this area, most people still need to use a keyboard for most computer applications.
Frequency as a Standard Measure
In the past, when typing was taught in the secondary school curriculum, it had one very notable
feature. Success in the course was related to the frequency with which you could enter characters
accurately on the keyboard. This is a measurement dimension that was completely novel to
educators and used in no other subject area except in learning the long lost art of shorthand.
Typically learning to type involved three distinct courses. The beginning course required the
learner to be able to type 25-30 words per minute without errors in order to pass the course. The
intermediate course required the learner to double that performance to 50-60 words per minute
entered correctly.
In the advanced course, for students intending to be executive secretaries, court reporters, or
engaged in other specialized data entry positions, the bar was set at 80-100 words per minute.
This ceiling was established because of the physical limits of the original non-electric
typewriters. If data entry occurred at speeds faster than 100 words per minute, the mechanical
arm of the typewriter keys would jam because they could not retract quickly enough not to be hit
by another approaching arm.

  10  
KPM or WPM?
Why should you measure “keystrokes per minute” rather than the old standby “words per
minute”? Because “kpm” is a much more accurate measure than “wpm.” A word may be two
letters long - the word me - or 12 letters long - the word protoplasmic. But every time you hit a
key, that is exactly one keystroke. To convert from kpm to wpm, figure the average word as 6
keystrokes (5 letters and a blank).
Different Keyboards
In an attempt to resolve this dilemma, the keys were arranged in several different orders as the
typewriter evolved. The common North American configuration is called the “QWERTY”
keyboard named after the first six letters of the upper left top row. Europeans developed the
Dvorak keyboard with different keys in different places. The original keyboard design remained
as each new generation of typewriters emerged. The QWERTY keyboard was then carried over
without change to the personal computer, despite fairly convincing research that the Dvorak
keyboard was easier to learn.
Finger Placement Is Key
Learning to keyboard has several unique features. It is one of those few manual skills in which
you are expected not to look at your hands, but rather to keep your eyes on the screen or on the
document you are typing. That means that you have to know which fingers are on which keys at
all times.
Learning finger placement is the first step to fluent keyboarding. In almost all commercially
available keyboarding programs, this begins with learning proper finger placement on the “home
row.” The home row is the middle row of the keyboard with a, s, d, f on the left and h, j, k, and l
on the right hand side of the row. With his fingers on these keys, the student is expected to learn
to reach up and back to the rows above and below in order to enter these characters.
Rate and Accuracy
Like many manual skills, learning to keyboard fluently has two major tasks.

The first is to reach a frequency that is considered fluent. Most competent keyboarders enter 400-
500 keystrokes per minute with few if any errors.
The second major task is to eradicate errors which occur when the wrong key is pressed, not
pressed sufficiently hard or held down too long.
Like most skills, learning to keyboard is best learned in small steps, which are then chained
together into a larger whole. Learning the finger placement of the home row becomes the first
step in the process. When a student can enter letters in the home row at 400+ keystrokes per
minute without looking, he is ready to move to the other rows.
The problem with some commercially available programs is that they did not retain the
frequency measure that was traditionally part of teaching students to type. Instead the program
uses a percent correct measure to determine the accuracy of each keystroke. Once the frequency
measure has been dropped, the students can be deemed competent on an accuracy criterion, even
though they are well below the fluency standard of 400-500 strokes per minute.

  11  
The Role of Practice
In learning most manual skills, the effect of daily practice has few equals. Skilled athletes and
performers provide a model for such activities. Tiger Woods hits a thousand golf balls daily. The
outcome is clearly evident in his standing atop the world of professional golf. Famed classical
musician Yo Yo Ma practices his cello for hours every day, even though he is already a virtuoso.
To reach fluency, students need to practice the fundamental home row strokes on a daily basis.
Once the home row has been learned, practicing different keystrokes builds the necessary
fluency.
Ergonomic Considerations
When learning to keyboard, posture is a major consideration. It is important to make sure that the
person is sitting properly in front of the computer. The feet should be placed so that the knees are
at right angles to the floor. For children, this may mean placing a stool under their feet if the
chair does not adjust sufficiently. Their arms should be parallel to the desktop so that they are not
reaching either up or down to touch the keyboard.
Some people use an ergonomic pad in front of he keyboard. Resting your wrists on the pad
ensures that your hands are in the proper position.
Students should be sitting relatively straight, not leaning too far forward over the keyboard. Their
heads should also be level, not drooping forward. Sometimes it is helpful to place the computer
monitor on a stand so that it is at the appropriate eye level for the student.
To the extent that these posture considerations are overlooked, the student may become tired and
stiff faster. Fatigue and discomfort will then begin to affect performance.
It’s just about impossible to make laptops ergonomic, by the way!
Students should practice for short periods, approximately 10-15 minutes per session once or
twice a day. They should record their results so that they can see the improvement or any
problems that they are encountering.
KPM or WPM?
Why should you measure “keystrokes per minute” rather than the old standby “words
per minute”? Because “kpm” is a much more accurate measure than “wpm.” A word
may be two letters long - the word me - or 12 letters long - the word protoplasmic. But
every time you hit a key, that is exactly one keystroke. To convert from kpm to wpm,
figure the average word as 6 keystrokes (5 letters and a blank).

Accessed on 2/26/2014 by Donald Potter.

http://www.home-school.com/Articles/teaching-fluent-keyboarding-skills.php

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Br J Educ Psychol. 2007 Jun; 77 (Pt 2):479-92.

A comparison of keyboarded and handwritten compositions

and the relationship with transcription speed.

Connelly V, Gee D, Walsh E.

BACKGROUND:
It is well established that handwriting fluency constrains writing quality by limiting resources for
higher order processes such as planning and reviewing. According to the 'simple view of writing'
then slow keyboarding speed should hinder the quality of keyboarded essay compositions in the
same way that slow handwriting hinders handwritten essay compositions. Given a lack of touch-
typing instruction in UK schools it was hypothesized that children's written compositions
produced via the keyboard would be worse than produced by hand.
AIMS:
To extend the work of Christensen (2004) and Rogers and Case-Smith (2002) by examining the
relationship between handwriting fluency and keyboarding fluency throughout the primary
school and studying the link between word-processed compositional quality and keyboarding
fluency.
SAMPLES AND METHODS:
The handwriting fluency and keyboarding fluency of 300 children in primary school were
measured. Year 5 and year 6 children completed a measure of compositional quality by hand and
by keyboard.
RESULTS AND COMMENT:
There was a high correlation between handwriting and keyboarding speed and handwriting speed
was consistently faster than keyboarding speed across all ages. Only a small minority of children
in years 5 and 6 had faster keyboarding than handwriting speed. Results showed that children's
compositional quality was superior in the handwritten scripts as opposed to the keyboarded
scripts. Keyboarded scripts were up to 2 years behind handwritten scripts in development.
Writing by keyboard does not necessarily lead to improvements in script quality, compared with
handwritten scripts. Explicit keyboarding instruction (touch-typing) is needed to develop
keyboarding fluency and unlock the full potential of the word processor for children's writing.
Accessed on February 26, 2014.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17504558

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Anne Trubek MIT Technology Review, August 15, 2011
Out of Touch with Typing
Many schools aren’t teaching typing anymore because they figure students already are proficient
at using keyboards. That’s a wasted opportunity.
Most children start typing on cell phones and computers long before they take keyboarding
classes, so many schools, noting this trend, have stopped teaching typing. “The kids already
know how to type,” the staff at my son’s school told us at curriculum night, “so we have decided
to use computer time on something else.”
But how are kids typing? Most develop idiosyncratic, personalized hunt-and-peck methods.
Many do not touch type, or type without looking at the keyboard by placing the fingers on the
home keys (asdf jkl;). As one of my undergraduates at Oberlin College put it: “People from my
generation grew up with a computer so they knew how to use one before entering junior high
school. However, I think most of us never learned how to type. I see many young people typing
pretty fast, but some of them only use two fingers and no home keys…if there’s one “right way”
to type…I don’t think many of us know it.”
There has been, since the late 19th century, a “right way” to type. In 1889, there was a “duel”
between two teachers who claimed to have devised the best methods. The winner, who used
something called “home keys,” typed a then-astonishing 126 words per minute. Afterwards, the
inventor, Frank McGurrin, toured the country, performing his feat in front of large crowds. Over
the next few decades, international typing races—a sort of So You Think You Can Type? trend—
were the craze.
Those classes are gone. Ironically, in our era of keyboard ubiquity, typing has fallen out of the
curriculum. Nor has anyone invented a rival to the home keys method (that we still cling to the
QWERTY keyboard, despite the advantages of other layouts, is yet another puzzle). Since most
students come to school familiar with keyboards, including cell phone keypads, educators are
letting the ad hoc habits of six-year old computer gamers stand, although these same teachers
spend hours laboriously showing their pupils how to hold a pencil and the correct way to write a
cursive capital G—skills that the kids will likely rarely use once they get to high school, when
typed assignments are the norm. (Not to mention how little handwriting will figure into their
adult lives). As a K-3 technology teacher in a Philadelphia area public school explained to me, “I
only see students at most for one 45-minute period per week, and it may be the only time the
students have on a computer that week. With various other projects, there is no time for real
keyboarding instruction and practice.”
Does it matter how we type? Yes. Touch-typing allows us to write without thinking about how
we are writing, freeing us to focus on what we are writing, on our ideas. Touch-typing is an
example of cognitive automaticity, the ability to do things without conscious attention or
awareness. Automaticity takes a burden off our working memory, allowing us more space for
higher-order thinking. (Other forms of cognitive automaticity include driving a car, riding a bike
and reading—you’re not sounding out the letters as you scan this post, right?) When we type
without looking at the keys, we are multi-tasking, our brains free to focus on ideas without
having to waste mental resources trying to find the quotation mark key. We can write at the
speed of thought.

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Many of us, and particularly digital natives, have practiced elaborate hunt and peck methods
enough for them to be automatic and allow us to look at the screen, not our fingers (it requires
about 400 hours of practice to achieve the reflexes to become a skilled typist, another 600 to be
expert. However, the home keys method is, as far as extant research goes, the fastest technique.
And it is not going out on any limb to suggest being able to type fast without looking at the
keyboard is a 21st century basic skill.
But the letters keep shifting below our fingers. Keyboards morph, and smart phones and tablet
computers render the home keys method almost impossible. Most iPad users hunt and peck: the
technologies so many Americans are clamoring to adopt are far less effective for writing than
previous devices. Strangely, we are adopting new devices at the cost of cognitive automaticity.
On the iPad, tweeting, e-mailing and Facebooking takes more time, requires lots of looking
down at the touch keypad. Hopefully someone out there is tinkering with a new typing system
for the iPad, as Frank McGurrin did for the typewriter (although then we may have to practice it
for 400 hours to master it).
There was a 15-year lag between the development of touch-typing and when the neologism
“touch typing” entered the English language. Perhaps we need another duel—a reality TV iPad
typing show? —to spur new keyboarding innovations. Until then, even the littlest ones should be
taught why the “f” and “j” keys have those funny bumps on them.
Anne Trubek, associate professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College, is the author of
A Skeptic’s Guide to Writers’ Houses.

Accessed on 2/26/2014.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/425018/out-of-touch-with-typing/

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