Introduction

Notes for Success

	Read, read, and read again—your online success depends largely on your ability to read and follow directions in the assignment sheets that follow.
	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.

Proofreading Checks

Ten documents have been designated on the Assignment Sheet as Proofreading Checks. Each Proofreading Check document must be proofread with 100% accuracy and have zero scoring errors on the first scored attempt. If any errors are scored, 1% point will be deducted from your final grade average. To make up a lost point, you may recreate the document and try again.

	Deductions. If there are any typos on the first scored attempt on a proofreading check document, one percentage point (-1%) will be deducted from your final average up to 10% total at my discretion. Note: If you finish a document and are not yet ready to score it, click No when you exit and you are prompted to score it. I count scored attempts only, not unscored attempts.
	To earn back a lost proofreading point, click Create (not Edit) to erase the existing document so that you can retype the Proofreading Check document. If it is scored with zero errors after you retype it, you regain the lost proofreading point.
	To earn back a lost proofreading point, click Create to delete and recreate the Proofreading Check document. If it is scored with zero errors, you regain the lost proofreading point.

Extra Credit. If you proofread any documents other than those designated as proofreading checks with zero errors on the first attempt, 1% of extra credit will be added to your final average up to 10% total at my discretion. These extra credit points would cancel out any proofreading deductions.