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I see these kinds of benefits in over-learning keyboards as well. The few classes I've taught to children and teenagers, you can see a dramatic difference betwe
by ideonexus 10y ago
I see these kinds of benefits in over-learning keyboards as well. The few classes I've taught to children and teenagers, you can see a dramatic difference between the students who are familiar with keyboards and those whose parents--I speculate--don't allow them screen time.
This extends into adulthood. The people I work with who have that well-practiced familiarity with keyboards and keyboard shortcuts--using them as if extensions of themselves--easily adapt to any new software interface. The adults who hunt around the screen with a mouse have a great deal of difficulty with change and are almost helpless when confronted with a new interface--even if the menu items are all in the same places as the last software.
It's a comfort and familiarity with the computer that allows the user to easily adapt to new things. It totally makes sense to me that working with an abacus would have similar benefits for making students comfortable with math.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> you can see a dramatic difference between the students who are familiar with keyboards and those whose parents--I speculate--don't allow them screen time. "Screen time" and keyboard use are very different things; while most opportunities for keyboard use also involve screen time, quite a lot of modern screen time doesn't involve keyboard use. I would bet that those unfamiliar with keyboards are a much larger group than those whose parents don't allow them screen time, the former group being a superset of the latter.
- koroch 10y agoIt's all gone down hill after we stopped using the command line. Back in my day ...
- rubber_duck 10y agoHand crafting punch cards for that OG physical experience.
- yjftsjthsd-h 10y agoKeyboards are higher bandwidth than punch cards, mice, or touch screens; currently they appear to be the best option.
- ashark 10y agoI did plenty of mavis beacon and such and hated it (though it drilled the basics into me, at least) and used the DOS command line a bit, but what made me fast and accurate was busy real-time chatrooms and IM. Basically Yahoo Chat and ICQ, especially the former. If you wanted to chime in you had to be very quick. If I'd never found something that forced me to be fast if I wanted to participate, I might well still be a crappy, slowish typist.
- pythonaut_16 10y agoOnline games were also great for this! You have to type quickly so that you can keep up with actually playing the game, and you can't stare at the keyboard because you need to keep an eye on what's actually going. In some ways I owe my career to Warcraft 3
- aaron695 10y ago> I speculate--don't allow them screen time. This I take as a given as a very positive parental attitude. Children have to much screen time, reduce if possible. It's this myth - >It's a comfort and familiarity with the computer that allows the user to easily adapt to new things. That worries me. Too much computer time is devastating to the brain and the person. Less is way better than to much. Of course the just right amount is best. But since 50% of parents are below average parents, I think encouraging less is better than more. Screen time is swamping children, it doesn't need to be encouraged, the myth of the first world kid not getting enough computers is like the myth of the first world kid not getting enough calories.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoSure, too much of anything is bad. But how much is too much? In my teens, I spend most of my after-school time in front of a computer, and I'd argue it was just enough time :). I owe my career to it.
- eon1 10y agoThis says more about our interactions with technology than parenting.. We could suggest that the pilots in Dune had just enough chamber time, too :)