A research-based, interactive application to teach phonics, vocabulary and typing.
The project idea is to develop a typing and language learning application for the target users of the 'Children's Machine' ($100 laptop)

Literature Review

There is limited prior research in the field of typing skill acquisition and the impact on future development.  This limitation arises from the newness and rapid innovation of digital communication which has only recently risen to prominence from the dawn of the personal computer and word processor in the 1980s to the rise of the Internet in the 1990s.  The existing research touches on the cognitive and motor tactual aspects of typing skill acquisition and typing in the classroom and finally the impact of typing on language acquisition.

Typing

One of the earliest, most appropriate and important pieces of research around typing was conducted in 1908 at the University of Montana by William Book (Book, 1908).  Book undertook a rigorous evaluation of the typing skill development for a traditional mechanical typewriter of eleven learners of different skill levels over a year long period.  The learners practiced under observation for hours each week and had introspection sessions where they discussed their learning process.  The results of the study included enumerating the steps of typing learning and methods to improve this process.

The following components of knowledge are required for typing (1) reading and writing letters, syllables, words, sentences (2) relative positions of letters on the keyboard (3) optimal keyboard finger placements and motions (e.g. home row keys – asdf) (4) the motor motion of keystrokes to produce the desired text or action.  Expert typists hardly ever look at or even think about the keys that they are hitting.  Their thought process seems to be numerous words ahead and their fingers are only catching up.  They can immediately sense when they have made a mistake without actually looking at the output on the paper or screen.  A high level of attention contributes to faster and more accurate typing.  The process of learning how to type and improving is about shortcutting many of the steps involved.  These steps could involve (1) conceptualizing what needs to be written (2) translating this into letters on the keyboard (3) mentally locating the keys on the keyboard (4) Physically striking the keys (5) Mentally verifying whether the right letters were struck.  In the process of becoming an advanced typist, these steps seem to have fused together where only step 4 is simple and noticeable.

Typing in the Classroom

Other studies have focused on the impact of learning typing skill on students in the classroom.  In her report on keyboarding skill and computer anxiety, Mary Artwohl (Artwohl, 1989) reported that familiarity with the keyboarding skill stimulates interest and enables concentration to be focused on the task to be accomplished, thus awareness and understanding about computers is increased and anxiety is decreased.  A study of four fourth-grade classes at three schools conducted by Bridget Dalton in 1988, further illustrates the benefits students can gain from keyboarding instruction.  Dalton reported that the two classes that had been given touch-keyboarding instruction were able to easily complete their assignments.

In a more recent study in 2000, Steve Reagan (Reagan, 2000) analyzed four middle school classes in East Tennessee that were learning typing with various computer-based typing programs.  This particular study focused on the benefits of a hand cover as an accessory teaching device but still gave some insight into how and when typing lessons are integrated into the classroom environment.  The study also gave clear examples of how to effectively conduct such a study including setup, subjects, timeline, testing, etc.  For example, the study sampled 100 students for twenty minutes a day over a month, totaling over nine hours of data per student.  The students completed timed typing tests at the beginning of the study and afterwards.  Finally, statistical analysis was conducted to compare the different classes and then interpretations were made. The results of the study revealed that the use of a hand cover improved typing performance. While this is not directly relevant to our proposed project, it points to an example of the limitations of software and the potential need for appropriate teacher support and additional peripherals such as hand cover to accompany our software and curriculum.

Language Learning and Typing

There has been research related to the use of typewriting as a tool in English language learning as early as 1964. Ramona First hypothesized that typewriting instruction could be used as an aid to the learning of English as a foreign language (First, 1964). Based on the results from an experiment she conducted, there seems to be a consistent pattern of better performance by students who had been exposed to typewriting instruction as part of their English course. Rosella Bernstein, in her book "A Nontraditional Approach to ESL Instruction: Typewriting", also describes an approach to the combination of typewriting instruction and English as a second language (ESL) (Bernstein, 1982). An integrated program hypothesis is formulated that proposes an even more complex learning role for typing. A review of the literature supports the hypothesis that the subvocalizing and cognitive thought processes that occur while acquiring a language are also operative while learning to type. In other words, there is sufficient overlap between the two learning activities when presented simultaneously that there is mutual enhancement of the skills. The underlying philosophy for Rosella is, typewriting can be an aid to ESL instruction rather than an end in itself.

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