Digital tools are an integral part of most writing communities across the globe, enhancing the criticality of gaining a comprehensive understanding of both paper and computer-based writing acquisition and development. The relationships between transcription skills and children's paper-based writing performance are well documented. Less is known…

Recent years, dramatic changes in the mode of writing have occurred. Computers and other digital devices are increasingly replacing writing by hand. The sensory-motor experiences of typing (e.g. visual, haptic, motor) are different from those used in handwriting. Therefore, the influence and effect of keyboarding on linguistic performance,…

Using computers and keyboarding skills for written communication have been common adaptations recommended by occupational therapists which are now important for all students. We used a quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test design to examine the effectiveness of a developmentally based curriculum, Keyboarding Without Tears®, as compared to free…

Little is known about students' engagement in school writing tasks and the methods that should be used by the researchers to assess this engagement. This exploratory study examines the relationship between the engagement reported by elementary school students (N = 136) in a handwriting and keyboarding activity (Likert scale questionnaire) and…

To date, there is no clear evidence to support choosing handwriting over keyboarding or vice versa as the modality children should use when they first learn to write. 102 Norwegian first-grade children from classrooms that used both electronic touchscreen keyboard on a digital tablet and pencil-and-paper for writing instruction wrote narratives in…

This study had two purposes: examining the internal structure of the "Test Estandarizado para la Evaluación Inicial de la Escritura con Teclado" (TEVET; Spanish Keyboarding Writing Test), and analyzing the development of keyboarding skills in Spanish elementary school children with and without learning disabilities (LD) in writing. A…

This study aimed to investigate how Grade 1-2 English language learners (ELLs) differ in their performance on a writing test in two test modes: paper and online. Participants were 139 ELLs in the United States. They completed three writing tasks, representing three test modes: (1) a paper in which students completed their writing using a…

This study examined the relationship and degree of predictability that the fluency of writing the alphabet from memory and the selection of allographs have on measures of fluency and accuracy of spelling in a free-writing sentence task when keyboarding. The "Test Estandarizado para la Evaluación de la Escritura con Teclado"…

The aim of this study was to analyze whether children with and without difficulties in handwriting, spelling, or both differed in alphabet writing when using a keyboard. The total sample consisted of 1,333 children from Grades 1 through 3. Scores on the spelling and handwriting factors from the "Early Grade Writing Assessment" (Jiménez,…

A learning style inventory and keyboarding pre/posttest administered to 48 fourth graders showed persistence to be the only learning style factor related to achievement. Pretest score was related to final achievement, indicating that natural kinesthetic ability may affect keyboarding speed. (SK)

Keyboarding was taught to a group of 26 fourth- and fifth-grade students in a self-contained classroom by an elementary classroom teacher using an Apple IIe microcomputer and two software programs: "Gregg Personal Keyboarding" and "Typing Tutor II." Intervention spanned 52 class days, including pre-, mid-, and posttest days,…

Compared the ease and efficiency of the Qwerty and Dvorak keyboards by analyzing five popular lists on high frequency words to determine differences in fingering for the keyboards. Found that more high frequency words and more characters are typed on the Dvorak keyboard home row, and therefore children should be taught to use the Dvorak rather…

Indiana fourth graders received keyboarding instruction 30 minutes per day for 4 weeks with 30 minutes of daily practice thereafter. Comparison with their scores in the fifth grade revealed an increase in speed of nine words per minute. Accuracy did not change significantly. (SK)

This study tested the effectiveness of a typing tutorial in teaching keyboarding skills to middle- and upper-grade elementary school students in both supervised and unsupervised environments. Subjects were 56 students enrolled in grades three through six, who were divided into two groups, supervised and unsupervised, and subdivided by grade (third…

This study assessed the status of touch-typing in school districts in Oregon and Washington, and developed and field tested a comprehensive training program designed to prepare elementary teachers to teach touch-typing skills to elementary students. There were four major activities: (1) a questionnaire was developed and mailed to a random sample…