Keyboarding

Become faster and more confident at the keyboard. This course will help you learn how to touch-type the alphabetic, numeric, and symbol keys; create, save, and edit word processing documents; and successfully take a timed writing test during a job interview.

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6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs
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Keyboarding

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Course code: key

If you want to learn touch-typing or improve your existing typing skills, this is the perfect course for you! In these lessons, you'll use the Keyboarding Pro 5 program, a typing tutorial designed for personal computers, to learn how to touch-type—that is, to type text you read from a printed page or a computer screen without looking at your keyboard.

With the skills you master here, you'll become faster and more confident at the keyboard. By the end of the course, you'll know how to touch-type the alphabetic, numeric, and symbol keys; create, save, and edit word processing documents; and successfully take a timed writing test during a job interview.

What you will learn

  • Learn how to create, edit, and save word processing documents
  • Improve your typing speed and accuracy
  • Learn posture tips to minimize fatigue and help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome

How you will benefit

  • Successfully take a timed writing test during a job interview
  • Become more confident in your ability to type quickly and accurately

How the course is taught

  • Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
  • 6 Weeks or 3 Months access
  • 24 course hours

Your first lesson guides you step by step as you download, install, and set up Key Pro 5. You will also get acquainted with the program, learning about the home row keys and the reach to the "i" key on the QWERTY keyboard. Are you confused about what home row and QWERTY mean? Don't worry—this lesson explains all of that.

Now that you're getting comfortable with the home row on the QWERTY keyboard, it's time to introduce you to some new keys. This lesson will focus on lowercase letters. You will also use Key Pro 5 to practice the reaches to the e and the n. Is all this typing causing you aches and pains? You will find out how to reduce fatigue while typing.

In this lesson, you will learn four new keystrokes: left SHIFT, h, t, and period (.). You will also provide some tips on improving speed and accuracy and introduce you to the Key Pro 5 word processor program.

Continue to build your keyboarding vocabulary by learning four new key reaches in this lesson: r, right SHIFT, c, and o. You will also learn about "the Zen of typing", which is how touch-typing becomes an instinctive and unconscious action.

Your typing vocabulary continues to expand rapidly with the addition of the reaches to the w, comma, b, and p. Before you know it, you will be typing complete paragraphs. This lesson also covers what you need to know about carpal tunnel syndrome, a serious and painful condition that you can avoid.

Expand your typing vocabulary by mastering four more key reaches: the g, question mark (?), x, and u. Just a few more reaches, and you will know how to type the whole alphabet. In this lesson, you will also learn about the function (FN) key and the numbers lock (NUM LOCK) key, which are on most laptop keyboards.

This lesson teaches you another four reaches for your typing vocabulary: q, m, v, and apostrophe ('). You will also learn how to save a document with a word processing program.

It's time to add another four reaches to your typing vocabulary: the z, y, quotation mark ("), and tab keys. After this lesson, you will know the reaches to all the alphabetic keys. You will also find out how to open, edit, and resave word processing documents.

Are you ready to improve your skills and learn some new ones? After you review the z, y, x, q, v, quotation mark, and CAPS LOCK keys, you will learn the reaches to the numbers 1 and 8. Then you will take timed writings in the Key Pro 5 word processor.

What's the difference between the DELETE key, the BACKSPACE key, and the Cut command? By the end of this lesson, you will understand how and when to use these three editing tools. You will also continue to improve your skills with the alphabetic keys, plus you will learn more number reaches: 5, 0, 2, and 7.

When should you spell out numbers (like this: one, nine, five hundred), and when should you write them as figures (1, 9, 500)? You will also continue to improve your skills with the keys you have already learned, and you will finish the number reaches by mastering 4, 9, 3, and 6. Then you will learn two symbol reaches: the dollar sign ($) and the hyphen (-).

You have already mastered some of the symbols and punctuation marks. In your last lesson together, you will meet the rest of the symbols. You will also work on your accuracy and speed with the Key Pro 5 Skill Building lessons. And you will find out how you can continue to hone your keyboarding skills long after you have finished this course.

Kathy Van Pelt

Kathy Van Pelt has taught computer courses at a community college for the past 25 years. She specializes in Microsoft Office applications, Google Drive and Google Applications, the Windows and Mac operating systems, and keyboarding. She spent seven years teaching word processing and business classes at a private business college and loves being in the ever-evolving educational field.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course must be taken on a PC. Please note that Macs, Chromebooks, Surface, and all other tablets are not compatible.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 8 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge is also compatible.
  • When the class starts, you'll receive instructions for downloading and installing a working copy of Keyboarding Pro 5. Please do not purchase or download the software from another source.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.​

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.​

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.​

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.​

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

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