Fluent keyboarding is an important component of literacy for today’s students. Students with efficient keyboard skills are better prepared for success in schools, colleges and also in the workplace. Proficiency with online communication tools will
give them the comparative ability to adapt to and advance in school and in our ever changing world.
QwertyTown teaches students all about Keyboarding in a safe and teacher controlled environment where they can communicate with their classmates, teachers and friends. While becoming fluent with a keyboard, students learn how to interact in a digital environment. This environment prepares students with a fundamental skill set essential for academic and professional success in the 21st century.
Keyboarding and online communication skills are recognized by the Department of Education as essential for student success. If students acquire this skill, they will be able to search for information, publish their knowledge and collaborate with others. QwertyTown has taken the initiative to ensure keyboard literacy for all. It follows the practices of the common core state standards for the English Language Arts.
QwertyTown’s curriculum:
QwertyTown follows the standard Qwerty fingering. There are 6 levels of learning a keyboard. In each level, it teaches some specific keys as per rows.
Performance Measurement:
QwertyTown has two measurement criteria for a student’s performance. Speed and Accuracy. Speed can be calculated as Words Per Minute and Accuracy is the % of correctness of words. At the end of each lesson, QwertyTown assesses how quickly and accurately students can type with the keys they’ve learned. Students may earn an on-site Bronze, Silver, or Gold Medals, as their learning progresses. Students get immediate feedbacks, motivation and encouragement as well.
QwertyTown promotes fluent keyboarding by introducing real-world activities to learning. Each user creates a personalized avatar. As users achieve success in lessons & level challenges, QwertyTown encourages them by giving rewards.
Performance-Based Reward System:
While developing their keyboard skills, students unlock the features that enable them to collaborate with friends and progress further. There are two types of reward systems that help students succeed in QwertyTown.
QwertyCoins: Students are awarded QwertyCoins when they earn medals. With QwertyCoins, they can purchase new items for their Avatars. QwertyTown students are highly motivated to earn QwertyCoins to customize their Avatars from the Avatar store. The quest for QwertyCoins drives students to replay lessons many times in pursuit of Silver and Gold medals.
Unlockables: This is the 2nd reward system where students can unlock some features by progressing through various levels. Fast and accurate keyboarding reward students by unlocking components of the Chatterbox. The Chatterbox is the communication hub in QwertyTown, it’s the place where students can chat, group chat, email and see other users in a safe, secured and teacher monitored environment. Students cannot access the components of the chatter box until they have successfully proven their basic fluency with the keyboard. For more information, refer QwertyTown’s Benchmarks and Curriculum page.
QwertyTown prepares teachers, administrators and parents with tools that make it easy to monitor users’ communication and overall participation. They have the ability to discriminate instructions by adjusting performance benchmarks or by adding, removing and customizing individual communication characteristics such as instant messaging and emailing.
QwertyTown is affordable with a number of federal funding opportunities for all schools and districts. It also recognizes the importance of delivering detailed data about each user’s performance in a quick and easy format. It focuses on fundamental 21st century skills. It is beneficial for students above 8 years of age. QwertyTown guides multiple college and career readiness for writing, speaking, listening and language. Engage your students with this tool to improve their computer skills for better education and success. Share your views in the comment box. You can also share with us your experience of other resources like QwertyTown.
