Primary and Early Years > Technology > Desktop

P57: Developing Keyboard Skills in Reception Children
Author: Claire Price and Jayne Hagar, Hunwick Primary School
Date: 2006

Summary

Claire and Jayne investigate the use of a BIGKEYS PLUS keyboard to help keyboard skills in reception children. The keyboards helped the children to log on to the school network using their own log on, and provided a 'stepping stone' towards the use of a normal keyboard.

Action

Each child was given their own unique log in to the school network, where they could access a range of websites and software to help with their learning. To help them learn their log in, which consisted of their initial and surname, the children were given 'log in' cards and the BIGKEYS PLUS keyboard to use. They could then move on to the standard or laptop keyboards when they were ready.

Outcomes

Claire and Jayne felt that the colourful, non-threatening and user friendly keyboards had given many of the children the confidence to progress to the stage where many of them could log on to the network using standard keyboards without the help of their 'log in' cards.

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