TTAPS: Touch Typing: A Program for Schools

TTAPS: Touch Typing: A Program for Schools
Produced by Jennifer Cole an experienced teacher of computer technology at Elwood Primary School in Victoria, TTAPS has many excellent features which are useful for students with low vision.
TTAPS is available from The Software Rolling Fund

Features:

For the student:

• A clear, uncluttered screen display.
• The text  is bold, black and displayed on a white background. Font sizes vary between N24 and N48.
• This software is compatible with Zoomtext screen enlargement software.
• This program has sound. Eg. A voice tells the students which keys to type, some of the directions are voiced and sound rewards are used to encourage students.
• Large print (N40 and N24) worksheets.
• The instructions are centred. This can be  an advantage when using screen enlarging software. Eg. At x2 enlargement with Zoomtext most of the instructions still fit on the screen.
• The program has a simple structure, which is easy to follow and the activities move from one section to another in a predictable way.
• The games sections offers students choice and reinforces keys learnt in the lesson in a fun way.
• The booklet, which comes with the program, has some good ideas for teaching touch typing.

For the Teacher:

• Available in Apple Macintosh or PC formats
• Easy to install
• User friendly instruction booklet.
• The structure of the program consists of 16 lessons. Each lesson contains an introduction and six parts to practise the keys. At the end of the lesson there are four games and a copy sheet (in large print) for the student to complete. When the student has completed these sections they can move on to the next lesson.
• The student’s progress is monitored throughout the program. Feedback is given for accuracy and typing rates. Positive reinforcement is used to help students remain on task.
• The program keeps individual records of the student’s progress.

• The keyboard graphic shows a beige keyboard with black print to show the keys. You may need to show students finger placement if they have difficulty with the graphics. Play “home keys” game as suggested on P.9 of the booklet before starting lessons. Have an enlarged copy of the keyboard to show the student if required.
• Directions at the beginning and the end of the lesson: Not all directions have voice output.  A few instructions appear in bold red (N24) print on a light brown background. ie you may need to read out directions to some students.
• The game “Crack the Code” does not have any voice output and the print size is between N18-N24.  The print for the lesson is black on a white background. The code keys are red with white letters. If this game is not accessible to the student you can skip it by going into the teacher controls and moving the student onto the next section.

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