If you’re an online student, you probably spend a great deal of time at your keyboard. What’s more, typing is your primary avenue of communication with your instructors and support staff. Being able to type quickly and accurately is an important skill for online students, and it’s an easily transferable skill for individuals who will end up working in an office setting where they will be typing a good portion of their work days.
Years ago (in the “olden days”) students used to take typing classes using these ancient machines called typewriters, and almost every student was expected to take this course since typing was presumed to be an essential skill. Typing was deemed essential way back when, and that was before computers took over. Learning to type has become even more important today. Here are Excel High School’s best sources for free typing lessons as well as some tips and tricks for improving the speed and accuracy of your typing.
Learning to Type
If you’ve never learned the “proper” way to type and are a proud user of the “hunt-and-peck” method or consider yourself a “two-fingered-typist,” then you might be moving along pretty quickly with your own style. However, if you want to learn how to type with even more speed and accuracy, learning the standard format for typing will help you excel. You can find plenty of “learn to type” websites, but here are three free sites that – despite the ads on their pages – are actually really good options for free typing lessons.
TypingClub – This website is aimed at kids, but you get short, direct beginning typing lessons as a result. All you have to do is get over the animated voice at the start and the rest of the lessons that are helpful to teach you where your fingers go on the keyboard, and you’ll advance to more difficult typing lessons later on that work on your speed and accuracy. You do have the option to skip the beginner lessons if you’re already a typist who is looking for ways to improve and practice.
LearnTyping – Aimed at adults learning how to type (or at least, not children), even though this site is a little bit cluttered and busy, its lessons are direct and to the point without the cartoon feel. It offers Beginner and Advanced leveled instruction. The Beginner will teach you how to keep your fingers in the correct spots, while the advanced will work on tougher letter and number combinations. The site does have animated videos of a woman in a professional outfit giving you instructions, but she’s easy enough to avoid by not pressing play on her videos. Since the instructions are typed as well and the animated woman’s voice is very abrasive and computerized, you might want to skip the video instructions.
typing.com – This website’s lessons are good because they work on usable letter combinations right away. You can choose from Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced for your practice, so that’s a great advantage if you’ve already got some typing experience. One aspect of the lessons that you might consider a drawback are the animated 1-, 2-, or 3-star animations that you’re given based on your performance. They are very much an “E for Everyone” animation style that might be a little bit annoying; however, you might feel motivated by them. This will be a matter of personal preference.
In the end, if you type “learn to type” in the search bar, you’re going to find tons of options to help you either learn the basic, “proper” format of the keyboard or to improve your more advanced skills so that you can type more quickly and with more accuracy.
Typing Tips and Tricks
If you want to improve the speed and accuracy of your typing, follow these helpful tips and tricks.
Positioning
Making sure your hands are on the correct starting points is essential for fast and accurate typing. Letting your hands wander all over the keyboard is not going to lead to anything but a jumbled mess. Even practiced typist have had moments when their hands were on the wrong spot and they start to type a line of nonsense, but the best typists know that making sure you are feeling the nubs of the “F” and “J” keys with your index fingers leads to an efficient and accurate relationship with your keyboard.
Your Eyes
Keep your eyes on what you’re typing, not your keyboard. Watching the keyboard means that you aren’t watching the result of your typing. If you need to practice more, take some time to work on your typing skills using one of the free programs we’ve already mentioned because being able to type without watching your hands is a major time saver. You know immediately if you’ve made an error, and you can think more about the message of what you are trying to communicate rather than the mechanics of actual typing.
Posture
Having good posture will keep you typing longer. You might need some additional back support added to your chair, and you might need to move off the couch for this one. If you don’t exhibit good posture while you’re typing, you can end up with major neck, shoulder, and lower back pain. If you spend a lot of time at a keyboard, this can lead to major issues down the road.
Practice
Practicing good habits through free online sites is your best bet for learning to type and learning to type accurately and quickly. To type with what is considered “Productive speed,” you have to be able to type at 60 words per minute with accuracy. “High speed” is considered 70 wpm and over with accuracy, while “Competitive speed” is considered 120 wpm with accuracy. If you’re wanting to make sure you’re able to type at a “productive” speed so that you’re not spending too much time typing instead of being able to move on to your next task, then practice is the key.
About Excel High School
If you’re not already a student at Excel High School, but you’re interested in our programs, check us our online. We are an accredited online school that offers many different academic program options for students grade 6 through graduation. Our fully online, self-paced programs fit around your family’s schedule, and our support team is here to help you along the way. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to check out our programs on our website. Still got questions? Feel free to reach out to us by text at 952-465-3700 or call us at 800-620-3844. Our staff will be happy to answer any questions you have and guide you to the best program for your individual needs.
