"I am trying to get the hang of this new fangled writing machine, but I am not making a shining success of it. However, this is the first attempt I ever have made, & yet I perceive that I shall soon & easily acquire a fine facility in its use…one chiefly needs swiftness in banging the keys."
--Mark Twain's first typewritten letter, December 9, 1874
MMSD first addressed the elementary keyboarding issues in the spring of 1995, publishing the MMSD 1995-98 Elementary Keyboarding Plan. At that time, the increased use of technology had dramatically shifted the need for teaching keyboarding from the high and middle schools to the elementary level. Word processing had become valuable because it simplified the production of text, freeing children to concentrate on creating meaning. As a result, the increased focus on word processing as an important feature of the language arts program demanded that students be able to keyboard at least as quickly as they write.
Since that time, most MMSD elementary schools have implemented keyboarding programs in grades 3, 4, and/or 5. Although middle schools have seen many positive results of this instruction, it is time again to evaluate the status of keyboarding in our elementary schools and provide an update to the original plan. The purpose of Update 2000 is to analyze and update the MMSD 1995-98 Elementary Keyboarding Plan in order to facilitate effective and efficient delivery of keyboarding curriculum and assure articulation and accomplishment of skills in grades within a building as well as between levels within the district. Parents, staff and students should be able to expect that students entering high school have been taught keyboarding skills and can utilize those skills in meaningful ways within the curriculum.
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Updated:
August 28, 2002
Editor & Publisher: Jeff Sutherland, jsutherland@madison.k12.wi.us
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