Session IV-Understanding and Using Mavis Beacon Program

Today was special because the class got a chance to work individually on learning better keyboarding skills through Mavis Beacon Program.  It was Good Friday and several class members opted to attend class rather than enjoy some of the holiday weekend activities.  It was beneficial to all that attended.

An area of weakness in the class is keyboarding skills and manual dexterity; so to practice basic skills has been important to help them become more proficient in computing. Each student started with level one and depending on their skill set was able to move up according to their current skill levels.  They were very excited and really enjoyed all the little sound cues and badges that they could earn as they increase their skills.  This also gave the instructor a chance to emphasize specific keyboarding techniques and the little things, like the little bar line, on the keys "f" and "j" to help them locate the keys without looking at their hands.

It looks like we are off and running.  Working hard to familiarize students with the Home Row keys and practicing correct fingering techniques. The instructor feels that these little things will definitely help with their basic computing skills and develop good keyboarding techniques.  Far too many students "hunt and peck" without knowing they could do more and type faster if they knew basic typing skills and how the keyboard is laid out.

At the end of the session everyone was smiling and feeling accomplished with all they had learned.  We look forward to our next session in two weeks and we hope that all will be in attendance.