If you are spending a considerable amount of time in front of your computer trying to write a short email to your friend then you need to consider your typing skills. and if it happens that you are an educator like us then you MUST reconsider your touch typing habits immediately. This is the 21 st century and teaching and learning have evolved so rapidly that we need technology in every move we make. There is no excuse for you not to master your keyboard or even your touch screen if you are using a mobile device. Yes now it is the age of mobile learning which means that computers and laptops are taking the backseat. I am not trying to frustrate you but rather stress upon the importance of something that many people do not pay attention to.
For us in education , its the means that justify the ends. we need internet in our daily work and the first gate to this virtual world is the keyboard. The more we master typing skills the better our interaction with this world becomes. Given this huge importance of touch typing for educators i decided to assemble a short list of the best online applications that can in a short span of time make a difference in your typing experience. Be it a simple beginner or just a curious person looking forward to develop his/her typing speed, these free typing apps can help you improve the accuracy and the overall typing speed. You will eventually learn how to type fast with both hands using all of your fingers without looking at the keyboard. Remember, It might take anywhere from a couple of weeks to 2-3 months before you master your keyboard and believe me it will all pay off in the long run.
Here are the best apps you need to consider when improving your typing skills.
10-Fast-FingersI have already covered this application in an earlier post entitled 10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing. This tools allows its users to test their typing speed to find out how fast they type and where they position themselves against others……. read more in
10-Fast-Fingers tutorial.
TypeRacerTypeRacer is an online speed typing game. It allows its users to race each other by typing quotes from books, movies, and songs. It is the first multiplayer typing game on the web. This is a sort of competitive game where you have to type accurately and fast to get your car to the end point before the others. It is a real time game that you will enjoy so much.
Here is a video tutorial to learn more about
TypeRacer ( the guy in the video really amazes me )
KeybrKeybr is a tool for touch typing practice. It allows its users to improve their typing speed togther with typing without having to look at the keyboard. There are several layout to choose from , select the one you want and there you go.
You can choose from three basic lessons that start with a certain number of keys on the keyboard, and then, as you progress through the lessons, more keys are introduced to the mix to make things a little tougher. As an added bonus, our software keeps track of all your mistakes and your words–per–minute (wpm) — and even creates graphs of your day–by–day performance.
TypeFasterTypeFaster is a tool that teaches you how to touch type fast uisng a set of free typing tutorials. This program comes in three version: Standard, Accessible and Spanish. The Standard version is the ideal one so far for it has quite many interesting features such as:
- It supports multiple keyboard layouts
- It offers a clear indication of which fingers to use
- It has multi user support
- It also offers different versions for single user, multi user and multi user with teacher support.
Head over to
TypeFaster to learn more.
Typing Lessons OnlineTyping Lessons Online is a free touch typing program that allows its users to type fast using their ten fingers. It offers free and interactive typing lessons and exercises for all levels. It will help you :
- Learn touch typing online
- Learn which fingers correspond to which keyboard keys
- Improve your error rate and typing speed
Here is a video tutorial to show you how to use
Typing Lessons OnlineTypingWebTyping Web is a free web service that allows its users to learn fast typing through a series of comprehensive keyboarding lessons and games. This application covers the three levels: beginner, advanced, and special. Just choose the one that suits you and there you go.
if you want to learn more here is a short video tutorial for you
I hope you will try some of these apps and it would be better if you consider introducing them to your students and help them master the art of keyboarding.
I know there are many other web applications that can help you improve your typing speed but the ones mentioned above are among the best ones.
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