UK students are losing 339 million hours each year because they can't type properly, according to a recent study. According to the study, by touch-typing training company Student-type.com, average student can type—that is, input the words, check and correct them—at just 20 words per minute. A student that can touch-type properly—using all their fingers, looking at the screen and not their hands—will type at least 80 words per minute. Assuming the average student will have to type 300,000 words in their three years of university or college, then a non-touch-typing student will take 333 hours longer to complete their coursework than one that can type properly. That's 70 nights of a student's life to do something, frankly, more useful with.
"Most of us are still typing like electro-chickens, hunting and pecking with our index fingers to find the right keys" says Sue Westwood of Student-type.com The company has developed a unique typing programmeme, in association with an Educational Psychologist, to get students learning to type over the summer in preparation for university. With A-level results out from the 18th August students need to think about getting ready for their studies. "Many professionals now recognise the importance of typing. Sadly though, the UK lags behind the likes of the USA where it is a standard part of the school curriculum," says Westwood. "Here in the UK, whilst all students are expected to type up their work, very few are actually up to typing it properly – and they are wasting millions of hours, just sitting in front of a computer. "Many people either think they can already type, or believe it's only needed if you want to be a secretary in a business. But once the scale of the time people are wasting is appreciated then we are hopeful this attitude will change," says Westwood. It's not just time that is saved, typing has also been shown to improve literacy, and work rates improve allowing the typist to keep up with their thoughts. But not yet taught in schools, touch typing remains something that eludes many.
Indeed, Professor John Sutherland of University College London has said "It's pointless ...to rabbit on about 'the future is electronic' if our best students can't find a V on the keyboard without 5 seconds' hesitation. Who would employ a graduate with a reading speed of 20 words per minute?" In the last month, Student-type.com has joined with Oncampus, who provide students with their University internet site, to offer students the opportunity to learn to type in the summer off before they start university.
Daniel Moran, MD of Oncampus says, "Working in partnership with Student-type.com, Oncampus can enable students to improve their computer literacy skills. Not only will this help save students time in their studies, it will also better prepare them for the post-campus workplace. This is time they can reinvest back in their studies, or let's face it, time they can re-allocate back in the student bar!" The typing programme from Student-type.com costs just £26.99, and includes full lessons, unique colour coding of fingers for rapid learning and retro games to encourage practice. The programme was developed by an Educational Psychologist, who also developed the BAFTA winning DanceMat typing programme for the BBC.
"Most of us are still typing like electro-chickens, hunting and pecking with our index fingers to find the right keys" says Sue Westwood of Student-type.com The company has developed a unique typing programmeme, in association with an Educational Psychologist, to get students learning to type over the summer in preparation for university. With A-level results out from the 18th August students need to think about getting ready for their studies. "Many professionals now recognise the importance of typing. Sadly though, the UK lags behind the likes of the USA where it is a standard part of the school curriculum," says Westwood. "Here in the UK, whilst all students are expected to type up their work, very few are actually up to typing it properly – and they are wasting millions of hours, just sitting in front of a computer. "Many people either think they can already type, or believe it's only needed if you want to be a secretary in a business. But once the scale of the time people are wasting is appreciated then we are hopeful this attitude will change," says Westwood. It's not just time that is saved, typing has also been shown to improve literacy, and work rates improve allowing the typist to keep up with their thoughts. But not yet taught in schools, touch typing remains something that eludes many.
Indeed, Professor John Sutherland of University College London has said "It's pointless ...to rabbit on about 'the future is electronic' if our best students can't find a V on the keyboard without 5 seconds' hesitation. Who would employ a graduate with a reading speed of 20 words per minute?" In the last month, Student-type.com has joined with Oncampus, who provide students with their University internet site, to offer students the opportunity to learn to type in the summer off before they start university.
Daniel Moran, MD of Oncampus says, "Working in partnership with Student-type.com, Oncampus can enable students to improve their computer literacy skills. Not only will this help save students time in their studies, it will also better prepare them for the post-campus workplace. This is time they can reinvest back in their studies, or let's face it, time they can re-allocate back in the student bar!" The typing programme from Student-type.com costs just £26.99, and includes full lessons, unique colour coding of fingers for rapid learning and retro games to encourage practice. The programme was developed by an Educational Psychologist, who also developed the BAFTA winning DanceMat typing programme for the BBC.
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