Re: Re: Tech the children

I read it and the article is fine.

Two things:

I didn't relabel the keys. They are still labeled as "QWERTY" etc. I simply
told the computer that I would type in Dvorak and then I did so. I printed
out a cheat sheet and pasted it my monitor. That's what I looked at - so
that I didn't look at the keyboard - which was key to learning to touch
type.

Second, I eventually switched to a Typematrix which is one of the best
keyboards I have ever used. It has an additional bonus that it's hard-wired
for Dvorak - so that when I'm at work and I need to help someone on their
own computer, I just take my keyboard with me, press the hard-wire key and
work on their computer while they simultaneously (two keyboards plugged in
at once) can type on their own in QWERTY.

--Keith

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 16:55, Gregory G <[email protected]>wrote:

>
>
> I want to thank all members who have taken the time to follow this
> discussion. Your input has helped me greatly. And I want to thank especially
> Bjorn and Keith.
>
> To Bjorn I have this to say. I was so excited about my newest statistic
> concerning the percentages of those who touch type versus those who hunt and
> peck that I wanted to use those facts right away without completely
> analyzing what the facts really meant.
>
> I am still analyzing those facts.
>
> Now as for Keith, thank you for sharing your personal experience with
> learning to Dvorak. I had never even considered the health problems with
> Qwerty. My story is quite different and although this information is
> available on the http://YesWeCanDvorak.com About me page I will take the
> time to share it here. I beg your indulgence.
>
> I have known about the Dvorak keyboard since I was in the 7th or 8th grade
> when I saw a documentary about a girl who had learned to type on a Dvorak
> and had Amazing speed. In our school system typing class was a mandatory
> class for 9th graders. When I got into 9th grade I asked our typing teacher
> if I could be taught on a Dvorak typewriter and she said no. So, I decided
> to take a voluntary F or failure for typing class. I took the typing class
> period as a free period and took the F. For me that was a huge decision as I
> was a straight A student for most of my years in school.
>
> Since I desired to learn how to type on a Dvorak keyboard I realized that
> it was up to me to find typewriters that had the Dvorak legend on the keys.
> My first Dvorak typewriter was made by the Brother Company. It was small and
> portable. I found the learning to type on the Dvorak was really easy as for
> the most part your hands are positioned over the home row keys and you don't
> have to produce those fantastic keyboard gymnastics that are required for
> those who learn to type on a Qwerty.
>
> In high school I took a computer programming course in Basic Computer
> language. So when the Commodore 64 computer came out years later I was able
> to write a program that changed my Commodore from Qwerty to Dvorak. Later on
> I finally was able to find an IBM Selectric that had the Dvorak legend on
> its keys.
>
> Then came the age of personal computers and ever since Microsoft put out
> its Windows 3.1 the Dvorak keyboard was an option in all of Microsoft's
> operating systems. So as soon as I got my first personal computer the first
> thing I did was buy labels from Hooleon Corporation and relabeled my
> keyboard. I did that for years until I was finally able to get a Kenesis
> Advantage keyboard which has both the Qwerty and Dvorak legends on it.
>
> I share all of that with the group because I am sure that many of you
> besides Keith switched due to repetitive strain injuries. RSI. I have never
> had them at all. So I went and did some research on the subject and what I
> found out was truly amazing.
>
> RSI's are the leadinng cause of injury related costs to business in
> America. And I imagine for the rest of the world also. The facts are very
> disturbing on the one hand and in the other almost make me want to back
> track on my request to allow dual labeling.
>
> Keith I slightly edited your statement and posted it on my blog. See
> http://LightoftheWorld.com The blog is immediately under the home page
> video.
>
> Once again thank you all
> Gregory
>
> --- In [email protected] <altkeyboards%40yahoogroups.com>,
> Keith Ratliff <dracorat@...> wrote:
> >
> > I've been teaching mine too. They hate that I force them to use their
> > fingers in the proper rows (I don't let them type with only the index
> > finger) but already, they know generally how to find the key they want.
> >
> > Where I've run in to difficulty so far is the school. They don't like
> > difference. They want the kids to learn one thing and one thing only -
> > QWERTY. Never mind any benefits - if it's not QWERTY, it's not
> acceptable.
> >
> > So my daughter doesn't know it yet, but if she "barely passes" school
> > typing, I'll be OK with it. Because she won't "barely pass" her Dad's
> typing
> > instruction.
> >
> > --Keith
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:53, fredcraven <yahoogroups@...>wrote:
>
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > > Teach the children. They will change the world.
> > >
> > > Taught/Teaching all my kids the Simplified layout. It's working real
> well.
> > > My college aged kids tend to use it as security device too, leaving the
> > > keyboard as QWERTY. It totally freaks out their friends, but most
> people
> > > don't have a problem with it. And my kids know to change the layout
> back
> > > when they use a shared computer.
> > >
> > > Oh, and they can type like the wind.
> > >
> > > Fred
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>  
>


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