Empower students for a lifetime of productive, healthful computing.
FingerWings (called “First Things First”
during development) provides a complete solution for integrating computer
keyboarding skills within the elementary school program. Most educators,
parents, and community leaders recognize the need for today's students
to master touch-keyboarding skills before they develop inefficient and
unhealthful habits, yet most elementary level teachers have never received
training in how to teach keyboarding, or in how to blend the
development and use of the skill with the rest of the elementary curriculum.
As computers and portable
keyboards become increasingly ubiquitous in both homes and classrooms, it
is crucial that all students receive effective training in this new literacy
skill. Without proper training, students become hampered and limited
by the inefficiency of their “hunt and peck” keyboarding
technique; they are also at greater risk for serious repetitive stress injuries.
All educators are invited to consider this low-cost, research-based program
to support the implementation
of touch-keyboarding instruction and integration in the elementary classroom.
It is based on the premise that:
The key to learning for students is training for their teachers.
FingerWings
was designed especially for use in schools that have portable keyboards
or laptop computers available for student use right in the classrooms.
(It can also be adapted for use in lab-based computer training programs,
though true integration is difficult to achieve under lab scheduling constraints.)
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FingerWings
is a teacher-directed instructional program which will prepare students to
use computer keyboards effectively, efficiently and healthfully —as an
integral part of their school work throughout the curriculum. It is not
a software tutorial program. No software can tell which finger a student
is using to strike a key, or whether the wrists are being held in a position
that can cause injury over time! No software tutorial can provide the powerful
motivation of a prepared, enthusiastic teacher!
