Abstract:
The purpose of the research was to compare the effects of covered keyboarding
instruction with uncovered keyboarding instruction on students'typing proficiency and
typing technique. The instruction occurred over a six-week period in two seventh grade
beginning keyboarding classes. Forty-four students participated in the instruction.
This qualitative study included documenting typing proficiency, direct observation, and
student focus groups. Both keyboarding classes received beginning instruction without
the keyboarding covers in place. After lesson one was completed, group one used the
keyboarding covers to complete the rest of the lessons, while group two did not use the
covers. Through a review of the literature, I found that just as many authors
recommended not using the covers as those who did recommend their use.
The results of this study indicated students who used the keyboarding covers had more
confidence in their keyboarding skills compared to the students who did not use the
covers. Participants in the covered keyboarding instruction also admitted to being less
likely to look at their fingers when typing without the cover. Students using the covers
made more errors while keyboarding than the students not using the covers.