HAND FUNCTION
The terms 'easy'
and 'hard' words for the purposes of training are defined as
follows: Easy Words: These are the words which are typed
using the index and middle fingers on the keyboard.
Hard Words: These are the words and characters typed
using the ring and ulnar fingers on the keyboard.
(regular qwerty keyboard)
Developing
good technique, finger placement, positioning and movement is
the first step toward developing effective typing skills.
Learning
to type involves control of hand and fingers
(motor learning, kinesthesia and fine motor control /
coordination), positioning, concentration, practice &
perseverance,
You need to learn correct
placement of fingers and how to move your fingers and position
your hands. These are the basic skills needed for touch
typing which is the skill of pressing the keys accurately
without looking at the keys.
Traditional
typing training since the days of the typewriter have
presented the 'home row' touch typing approach. This has
worked well for some and yet many still find typing to be a
frustrating, one or few finger hunt and peck type of
exercise. We all need to use keyboards now, whether at
home, school or work, and efficient typing is becoming more of
an essential skill we need to be developing.
Here, we present a unique approach to typing training based
on 'how your hands work', as well as providing comprehensive
information and resources all aimed at providing you with the
best environment for developing typing skills to make you more
effective and competitive in your work or school
environment.
Components
of good typing technique:
Hand
Function
This web site presents a training approach based on how
your hands work!
Ergonomics
and Positioning
The way you sit and the organization and setup of your
work environment will have a significant impact on how
well you type and your long term health and
productivity.
We present a supplemental, different
approach to training efficient touch typing skills on a regular
qwerty keyboard. This approach is based on 'how your hand
works'! It is a fine motor training approach, training
specific movements of the fingers, and is grounded in the
principles of hand function. If you have a
Custom Typing Training
account, you can take a look at our exercises
and training
modules, which take into account
differences in function of the radial and ulnar fingers.
You will learn to type the easy words and become familiar with
the easy keys first, and then go onto the more difficult keys
to type. In addition to the 'easy and hard' keys
approach, some familiar 'home - top - bottom row' exercises
are provided.
Typing
Training should be based on 'how' your hand works, and
the training of small muscle movement / motor learning!
Ergonomics
is an essential part of developing
technique
for
typing.
The
positioning of your body
as well as the physical layout of the workenvironment and equipment
will significantly impact your overall efficiency of typing,
your productivity and ultimately your long term health.
Much emphasis has been placed in recent years, on the types of
repetitive strain injuries
and problems caused by poor working posture and
mechanics. This has arisen partly due to the
increasingly static nature of work being performed in the
computer and information age. Many more people are
spending longer hours sitting at a computer, in front of a
screen and working with keyboards, mice and other input
devices. The longer we sit in the same positions and
perform the same movements over and over again for an extended
period of time, the more susceptible we are to overuse
injuries, strains and reduced work performance.
Brief information about the
importance of ergonomics and positioning is included here
since it has such an important influence on typing
skills.
An entire section of this
tutorial web site is dedicated to ergonomics, with specific
detail being given to practical information, suggestions and
alternatives. Click here to go to the Ergonomics
section of this web site.
Good typing technique depends
on a balance between
movement and stability of the fingers, hands, arms, body, AND
head / eyes! This is an extremely important point which
is often overlooked in the process of training typing
skills.
Movement: should occur primarily at the finger joints, with some forward
and backward movement of the hands to reach for
keys.
Stability: your whole body should be seated and supported in the most
stable position possible, with your feet rested securely on
the floor, forearms supported on the desk (or preferably
keyboard wrist support), hands held over base of keyboard with
wrists in neutral position and fingers flexed over keys.
In addition, your head and neck needs to be an area of
stability. Typing should NOT include much head and
eye movement. Vision should, at most times, be focused
on the screen. If copying from a document is required,
make sure the document is placed upright in line with the
screen, which will reduce the amount of head and eye movement
away from the screen to see the document.
True
touch typing; typing on a keyboard with no need for looking at
fingers or keys and a trained 'finger-position' sense for the
physical location of keys, is the basis for development of
fast and accurate typing. Developing the technique
initially of knowing where all the keys are on the keyboard
and which fingers to use is the initial, and most challenging,
phase. It is during this stage that you should start
moving away from using your vision to 'find' the keys.
Once you've learned the location of keys, challenge your
fingers to find the correct keys, without looking, even if you
need to make frequent corrections.
It is this initial challenge,
goal direction, focus and discipline of training your fingers
to use the correct placement and learn the position of each
key that forms the basis for ongoing improvement of typing
skill.