Monitoring system that detects and corrects common keyboarding mistakes

Our exclusive Hands-ON! system continuously monitors the lessons and drills. Our software detects and automatically corrects the six most common keyboarding problems.

> Home Row -- one or both hands are not on the home row keys
> Off-By-One -- typing is out of position with the text
> Enter Key -- carriage return used instead of word wrap
> Backspace -- error correction not used in current session
> Shift Key -- shift used incorrectly while typing capital letters
> Caps Lock -- key pressed by accident while typing capital letters

Home Row

We all do it from time to time. We mean to type something like "computers are cool" and the text that appears on the computer is "vompuyrd str vool".

When you or I do this, we know immediately that the computer hasn't suddenly started speaking Russian or Portuguese. We recognize that we've just put our hands in the wrong place on the keyboard.

When a student is trying to type with either or both hands off the home row, the problem is not all that obvious. Unless corrected, this situation is frustrating at best and can lead to incorrect fingering in an attempt to type at all.

The Hands-ON! monitor automatically detects this and quickly shows what's wrong and how to correct it. In the example shown here, the left hand is out of position on the keyboard. Fixing this is easy, once the problem is shown clearly and quickly. This rapid response helps you three ways.

- Remove students' frustrations if the hands are not positioned correctly
- Assure that the correct fingering is used in all the lessons and drills
- Eliminate the need for visual clues and pictures of hands to show correct fingering

This last point -- the elimination of hand and finger pictures on the screen -- is worth discussing further. It is our contention that pictures of hands and other visual clues are actually detrimental to learning to use a computer keyboard. Just as we no longer use "counting on your fingers" to teach arithmetic, we should not be using "watch your fingers" diagrams to teach keyboarding. The Ainsworth Keyboard Trainer is the only keyboarding software that eliminates visual distractions from the start.

Off-By-One

Being out of position by one, two, or three spaces is immediately detected by the Hands-ON! monitor, as shown here. As soon as the student learns to simply look at the result on the screen, this situation is no longer a problem.

Focusing on the result is easy. Once this is automatic, typing correctly is only a matter of watching the screen and focusing on the content instead of just copying text.

Writing original text with email or other documents requires attention on the content. The same is true of computer applications requiring form-fill and other interactions. The Hands-ON! monitor handles this detail of keyboarding automatically.

Enter Key

If the Enter Key is used incorrectly as a "carriage return" at the end of a line, this special lesson is introduced to explain how word wrap works. If a student uses word wrap instinctively and never makes this error, this lesson is not necessary and will not appear.

While some typing programs actually expect or require carriage returns, our system is based entirely on computer keyboarding and not typewriter techniques.

When a student graduates to word processing, the correct use of word wrap is essential, and "carriage return" habits are devastating. Our educational focus is on writing. Preparation for correct use of a word processor is an essential step.

Backspace

This is probably the most important key on the keyboard. With this key, any student can type without error and use any computer program correctly, just by paying attention to detail. We teach, rather than avoid, the correct use of this key.

If the typing pattern indicates that a student doesn't know how to use Backspace, this special lesson is displayed. We detect this condition if a student has typed several sessions, made mistakes, and not corrected them. If the Backspace key is used for any corrections, this special lesson is not necessary and will not appear.

We also monitor the Backspace key and use this information as an important input to our software. If a student uses the Backspace key in a random manner, this just indicates a general carelessness which we report in the accuracy figures and otherwise ignore. If the Backspace key is used in a specific pattern, however, this signals our program that there is a problem with one or more keys. If this is the case, our software automatically adjusts the lessons and drills to correct the basic problem itself.

Shift Key

This reminder appears whenever the Shift key is not used correctly when typing a capital letter. In practice, this only happens once or twice before a student is typing capitals and using the Shift keys automatically.

If a problem should occur at any time, however, the Hands-ON! monitor is always ready to quickly illustrate the situation and its solution.

This simple reminder is all that's necessary to eliminate confusion or anxiety over the correct use of the Shift keys.

Caps Lock
The combination of Caps Lock and Shift keys can be confusing, especially if the Caps Lock is pressed by mistake and the keyboard suddenly starts TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

If that happens, this special lesson appears automatically at just the right time to clear this up quickly and easily.

The student is invited to turn Caps Lock on and off a few times to see how it works, then continue with the keyboard in the standard configuration.