Why is it important to teach our students the art of typing? | @LearningDotCom

Do your students have the typing skills needed to successfully become digital citizens?

In this episode of the TeacherCast App Spotlight, we discuss the art of teaching students how to properly become expert keyboardist with Jeff Meyer, the Director of Education from Learning.com.

About Learning.com

Founded in 1999, Learning.com currently partners with one in six school districts and serves five million students nationwide. Learning.com provides K-12 solutions to help students, teachers, and schools excel in a digital world. Districts equip their students with the technology and 21st-century skills needed for success on online assessments, college, and the workforce using Learning.com’s digital literacy solutions. Learning.com’s digital content tools help districts build and share custom digital curriculum helping them meet their instructional goals, facilitate personalized learning, and address budget challenges. Through implementation services and professional development, Learning.com serves educators as they integrate technology and digital content into instruction.

Links of Interest

• Website: http://www.learning.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/learning-com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Learningdotcom
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/learningdotcom
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/learningdotcom/

About Jeff Meyer

Jeff Meyer is the Director of Education and is Learning.com’s resident product expert for our digital literacy solutions who works to identify best practices for internal and external audiences. Jeff has 34 years of experience working in education as a public-school teacher and coach, district curriculum and technology director and administrator. He is passionate about the need to transform education using data-based, inquiry-driven approaches and digital resources, especially with urban students and educators. Prior to his eleven years of service with Learning.com, Jeff worked in the Austin and Eanes school districts, Education Service Center, and University of Texas at Austin, Texas.

Press Release

Learning.com Launches EasyTech’s Next Generation Adaptive Keyboarding Application  

Updated Digital Solution Will Help Students Develop Accuracy and Speed in a Fun and Engaging Environment

PORTLAND, Ore. – May 16, 2017 – Many school leaders are realizing that while today’s students may be adept at swiping and texting, keyboarding is an essential skill needed for success in school and today’s workplace. To help close the keyboarding skills gap, ed tech company, Learning.com, today announced its Next Generation Adaptive Keyboarding solution, a comprehensive digital application designed to help students develop accuracy and speed on the keyboard through independent practice.

This new application is an update of EasyTech’s Prescriptive Keyboarding solution and is illustrative of Learning.com’s commitment to providing tools that help students and teachers excel in a digital world. It features updated technology, including a transition from Flash to HTML5, and offers intuitive, role-based user interfaces along with a modern design for higher engagement and ease of use.

“For digital natives, who’ve grown up with digital devices glued to their hands, typing and keyboarding have been replaced by swiping and emojis, leaving many students without the technology skills necessary to succeed in school, college and careers,” said Learning.com CEO Keith Oelrich. “Our keyboarding lessons and adaptive keyboarding practice environment provide a fun and engaging way to close that critical skill gap.”

As a pre-cursor to independent practice, the new guided practice curriculum launches a module that directs students through such keyboarding basics as home row and upper row to ensure proper technique within those skill areas.

The Great Keyboarding Adventure for elementary students and The Urban Keyboarding Explorer for middle school help students understand that through developing keyboarding skills, they can open their interconnected world. Students complete a series of prescriptive pathways within these worlds that adapt as they complete a combination of keyboarding practices, demonstrating improvements toward accuracy and speed goals. Students earn badges along the way as they complete formative assessments, exercises, and skill and story challenges, while the prescriptive engine recommends personalized exercises adapted to each student’s individual needs.

To learn more about the benefits of keyboarding and get tips on student engagement, register here for “Keyboarding is a Foundational Skill Students Need for Success,” a webinar examining the importance of keyboarding in the classroom. The webinar will take place at 1:30 p.m. PDT on Thursday, May 18, 2017.

About Learning.com

Founded in 1999, Learning.com currently partners with one in six school districts and serves five million students nationwide. Learning.com provides K-12 solutions to help students, teachers, and schools excel in a digital world. Districts equip their students with the technology and 21st century skills needed for success on online assessments, college, and the workforce using Learning.com’s digital literacy solutions. Learning.com’s digital content tools help districts build and share custom digital curriculum helping them meet their instructional goals, facilitate personalized learning, and address budget challenges. Through implementation services and professional development, Learning.com serves educators as they integrate technology and digital content into instruction.

Digital Literacy Gains

More Than 75 percent of Fifth and Eighth Graders are Non-Proficient in 21^st Century Skills, According to Learning.com Study

Research Demonstrates Access to Tools for Building Digital Literacy Skills Key to Closing Skills Gap 

PORTLAND, Ore. – August 22, 2017 – We may think today’s students are digital natives, but a recent multi-year study by Learning.com revealed that 75 percent of fifth and eighth graders are non-proficient in 21^st century skills. The research, which involved more than 110,000 students taking Learning.com’s 21^stCentury Skills Assessment from 2012-2017, measures the digital literacy skills outlined in the ISTE Student Standards. The company’s research also demonstrated that providing students with access to tools for building digital literacy skills is crucial for closing this serious skills gap.

“When we look at the test scores for this significant sample of students, it is alarming to see that the vast majority of fifth and eighth graders did not have the digital skills necessary for success in college and their future careers – not to mention high school, which is right around the corner,” said Learning.com CEO, Keith Oelrich. “However, what we also see is that when students have opportunities to build those skills, proficiency rates soar.”

When the education technology company looked at students who had consistently used its digital literacy tools over the course over one school year, it found that overall, those who were more engaged with the digital literacy curriculum showed greater gains during the period of study.

In Texas, more than 10,000 eighth grade students from across 251 districts took Learning.com’s 21st Century Skills Assessment. After working with the company’s tools during the school year, non users had gains in proficiency between the pre- and post-test of 4.6 percent, while consistent users had gains in proficiency of 20.1 percent, more than four times that of non-users.

As a result of a Texas statewide adoption, these students now have access to EasyTech, Learning.com’s comprehensive K-8 curriculum. These self-paced, interactive lessons help students develop digital literacy and computational thinking skills. In addition, EasyCode Foundations and Pillars, provide a complete, turnkey solution for introducing students in grades three through eight to coding using a real programming language. Learning.com’s digital literacy platform was certified as the only solution to address 100 percent of the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TA-TEKS) state standards, which outline the digital literacy skills students need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.

About Learning.com

Founded in 1999, Learning.com currently partners with one in six school districts and serves five million students nationwide. Learning.com provides K-12 solutions to help students, teachers, and schools excel in a digital world. Districts equip their students with the technology and 21st century skills needed for success on online assessments, college, and the workforce using Learning.com’s digital literacy solutions. Learning.com’s digital content tools help districts build and share custom digital curriculum helping them meet their instructional goals, facilitate personalized learning, and address budget challenges. Through implementation services and professional development, Learning.com serves educators as they integrate technology and digital content into instruction.

Recorded September 2017