Week 1

Computer Keyboarding 1 Online
September 5-10

Reminder: From the GDP menu, click Options, Settings. Under Full Editing, uncheck in Drills! You never want to edit your skillbuilding drills! Using the backspace key during skillbuilding leads to poor technique—distraction from copy, looking at keys, looking at hands, etc.

Mandatory On-Campus Orientation:

We will meet on campus for a mandatory on-campus orientation session this week and/or next week. I will email you with details. See FAQ 1 to preview the presentation, "Orientation to Keyboarding Online."

	Read, read, and read again—your online success depends largely on your ability to read and follow directions in the assignment sheets each week.
	If I were teaching you in a traditional classroom, your assignment sheets would be my lesson plans.

Developing Technique

Good technique is the foundation for success in keyboarding. It is up to you to discipline yourself to develop correct technique. Look at the Typing Technique illustration in your textbook on p. vii of the Introduction and read the technique pointers carefully. Click here to study the illustration.

Don’t correct errors as you type drill lines. It is acceptable to have some errors in a line when you are first learning to type. If you correct errors on drills, your technique suffers when you glance back and forth between your screen, your hands, and your book.

Type all letters by touch. Once you have studied the reaches, keep your eyes on the textbook as you type each line. When you are finished typing a line, look at the screen to identify any letters you missed. Repeat the line without looking—focus on any letters you identified in the first attempt. Try turning off your monitor until you complete a drill so you will not be tempted to peek.

Check your technique constantly. Because I cannot watch you type to check your technique, you will have to monitor yourself. Pay careful attention to the software demonstrations for each new letter to learn the correct fingering. If you are not sure of your fingering, click the Skillbuilding Exercises drawer. Click the New Key Drills tab, and click the desired character on the keyboard below. You will be taken to the lesson where the key was first introduced. Click the Demonstration button as many times as you need to be sure you are using the correct fingering. Remember—you must have acceptable technique to pass Keyboarding.

Give me a break! Check out this site for some great online stretches whenever you need a break: http://keats.admin.virginia.edu/ergo/stretch.html

Technique Check

You must have acceptable technique to pass keyboarding! I will give you a technique check in person as soon as possible after you start the course at the same time. I will watch you type some paragraphs that include all the keys from Lessons 1 through 20 to be sure that you can type by touch (without looking), use the correct fingering, and generally have acceptable technique. If you cannot type by touch and/or are using the wrong fingering, you will have to improve your technique and come back for another technique check.

Conventions Used

	Words in blue indicate information found in the blue textbook (Gregg College Keyboarding & Document Processing for Windows or the GDP software.
	Words in brown denote information found in the MS Word 2002 Manual for Lessons 1-120.

Getting Started

	Open your textbook to Lesson 1.
	Launch GDP; type 1 in the Lesson box or click the list arrow until 1 is displayed.

Orientation to Windows

To learn about the format of your Word manual and for an introduction to the basics of Windows, open your Word manual, and read through pp. 1-5.

Orientation to GDP Software

Help Exercises

	From the GDP menu, click Help. From the Contents tab, double-click Gregg College Keyboarding, Introduction, Program Overview, to learn about lesson, skillbuilding, Student Portfolio, etc. Use your Back button after reading each topic.
	Click the Index tab. In keyword box, type any keyword to learn about the desired topic.

Orientation to Typing Drills

Help Exercise

Press F1, click the Index tab, type Speed pattern, and click the Display button.

Type your drill lines as shown under the Speed Pattern—type each line twice before proceeding to a new line. The first time you type the line, you are learning. The second time, you are reinforcing the new line so it should be easier. If you type a line once and go to a new line without repeating, you are not getting the reinforcement you need.

Press F1,click the Index tab, type Error Marking, and click the Display button. Read about the color coding on scoring.

Lesson 1-A B C D E F G H I J

Lesson 1-J, 1-Minute Timed Writing
TW Goal: 10/3e

Click here to go to a Gregg College Keyboarding and Document Processing training site to access a series of training videos on different exercise types used in GDP. Click Exercise Types in the left pane, and then click Timed Writings in the bottom pane to view a training video explaining in depth how Timed Writing drills work. Your skillbuilding is always more effective when you understand and focus on your goals for that particular drill. Enjoy!

If you meet the goal in either of the two timings, you will know you have mastered the lesson and are ready to continue to the next lesson. The goal for this timing is to complete the line before the timing is up within the error limit. The timing begins when you press the first keystroke. If you finish the line before the time is up, press Enter and continue typing until time is up.

	If you meet your timing goal on either of the two timings, proceed to the next lesson.
	If you don't meet your goal after two attempts, press Escape and repeat the lesson. Don't repeat the timing more than two times.
	If your error limit is 3, you are not penalized for making any errors up to 3.
	After 3 errors, you may correct errors or just try to slow down for control. If correcting errors after you have reached your maximum limit helps you relax, please do so. If correcting errors distracts you or slows you down too much, try to slow down slightly for control.

Lesson 2-A B C D E F G

Lesson 2-G, 1-Minute Timed Writing
TW Goal: 11/3e

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