How I did it: Download the free typing tutor KP typing tutor to learn how to touch type properly. Found the course it had particularly good and worked through each line of the course. There were 217 lines in all. You can also practice set sentences and paste in your own paragraphs to practice your own text.

I liked the way it had a keyboard highlighting what keys to press and a depiction of the hands with dots above the finger to show you what finger you should be using! That was very helpful.

I got into some bad habits with typing whilst not looking at the keyboard. So much so that I think it contributed to me getting carpal tunnel syndrome! So now that my hands have improved I wanted to learn to touch type properly.

I think it is a really important lifelong skill to learn. Really pleased I have learnt now, some wrong fingers pressing the key every now and then but I can sense when I've done it wrong and go back and re-type properly.

Lessons & tips: I practised a new few lines each day of the KP Typing tutor each day, spending about 5 minutes a time in the programme, didn't want to overdo it, not with my hands!

Carefully "feel" where your fingers are wondering, if my fingers went and pressed a key it shouldn't have, I went back and re-typed. Don't rush!

I'll be having a go at touch typing with the Dvorak layout next, meant to be more ergonomic (especially against the danger of RSI) as well as increasing my touch typing speed. I hope I don't get the qwerty and dvoark layouts muddled!

Resources:

• KP typing Tutor, http://download.cnet.com/KP-Typing-Tutor/3000-2051_4-10421535.html
• Picture of the touch typing keyboard layout, showed me where my fingers should go

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Jul 18, 2010, 11:25PM PDT | 1 comment | 7 cheers