Keyboarding

I played Typing Adventure and Ten Thumb Typing Tutorial. Although they are both very different, I really enjoyed both.

In Typing Adventure the learner is a scuba diver who is faced with oncoming sharks which each have a word on them. As the learner types each word the shark vanishes. Eventually when a shark is able to pass without its word being typed that turn (life?) is over. The game has several difficulty levels, so it is challenging without being overwhelming. I thought it was a great way to make the task of typing more exciting (I actually felt a surge of adrenaline as the sharks approached) and along with typing it also exercised the learner's spelling skills, as several of the words were not commonly used, and in some cases the sharks overlapped and hid some letters. It was also more manageable because the learner only has to focus on accomplishing typing one word at a time, rather than facing an entire passage to be typed.

The Ten Thumbs Typing Tutorial included a typing test. (My initial score was 29 words a minute.) The learner could then practice copying various book quotations at different difficulty levels. I really liked that literature was incorporated into the tutorial. This program isn't as exciting as the other, but was still enjoyable.

I would recommend both programs. The first would be especially helpful for less skilled students, especially for those who are competitive. The second ids better for more accomplished students, especially those who enjoy literature.