====================================================================== 'TWO FINGERS' CONVERSION ====================================================================== WE ALL KNOW THE VIRTUES of using a word processor, spreadsheet or database, but have you ever thought about the benefits of casting the PCW into the role of tutor. Obviously your own 'tutor' is available to suit, 24 hours a day, when and where you find it convenient, and at your own pace. While you may very well appreciate the company of other like-minded individuals in a classroom atmosphere, in some instances learning in groups can have its drawbacks: The inconvenience of attending at fixed times regardless of your circumstances; A reduced learning curve on those first few lessons (due to the change of environment and settling in), to name but two. On the other hand, there is no way a computer can physically take the place of a human teacher, but in many instances, computer assisted learning can form an important classroom aid. Indeed many organisations and Learning Centres are now capitalising on the rewards to be gained from using such packages, either bought off-the-peg or tailored to suit the organisation. Being familiar with a computer keyboard its users tend to get by very well using two, three or sometimes even four fingers and some can achieve considerable speeds of 20 - 30 + words per minute. The word processor has already provided a leap forward in potential productivity with its cut, paste and editing commands, not to mention the overall ease in refining that 'masterpiece' to your hearts content before committing it to paper. For the two fingered 'hunt-and-peck' typist the most obvious area for further improvement is to learn to touch type and make use of all those fingers. An ideal way to improve these keyboard skills to a more professional level is to enlist the help of your PCW, using the very environment in which you will be putting these skills to use. IANSYST LTD. have incorporated current thinking into their typing tutors for teaching typing skills to both newcomers and longterm users alike. Their 'IANKEY' typing tutors are used by an impressive array of organisations, both in the Private Sector and Civil Service, and a variety of Universities, Colleges and Typing Training Centres nationwide. These modern keyboard courses (Iankey 'Crash Course' & 'Two Fingers') have been designed especially for the Computer keyboard user and overcome the drawbacks of using a traditional touch typing course. Now if you were to use a traditional method to learn you would probably suffer from a dramatic drop in productivity, not to mention the well nigh impossible task of retraining those fingers, all at once, to learn the error of their ways. What makes 'IANKEY' Courses relevant to this new breed of typist? It's their flexible approach to teaching adults. Gone are the hours of repetitive keyboard exercises that are not only meaningless but bore the student and quite often result in an abandoned course. Instead, practice is gained through typing ordinary, and sometimes quite interesting text, where the emphasis is on speed rather than accuracy. With Iankey each finger is retrained one at a time and you are encouraged to follow through and practice in your everyday keyboard activities to consolidate these changes. Such step by step changes are quickly reinforced without any dramatic drop in typing speed. When an error is made the student is informed immediately but not forced to correct it there and then. When using word processing software it is sometimes quicker to correct all errors as another stage in the drafting sequence. Students are well motivated right from the first lesson with personalised on-screen targets for accuracy and words per minute. With each exercise new keys are introduced and practice text follows to reinforce the changes. These practice sessions are repeated as many times as necessary to reach a personalised target - up to a maximum of ten times - or until the speed and accuracy targets have been achieved. The program is flexible enough to allow the user to alter this maximum number of repetitions to anywhere between one and ten repeats. In the 'Two Fingers to Touch Typing Conversion Course' the first lesson is an evaluation of keyboard accuracy and speed. The second lesson divides the keyboard in two, with the aid of coloured stickers which are placed on the appropriate keys, and using any finger you practice making sure that each hand stays on its side of the keyboard. Similarly the shift keys are introduced. The next three lessons cover the other fingers in turn followed by three more lessons of general exercises. While typing these practice exercises you are prompted by a display of the keyboard with the appropriate key flashing. The program gives instant feedback to the student rather than at the end of the lesson. Errors are classified into categories and the algorithm can even handle missed or inserted words, whether corrected or not. This instant feedback is very worthwhile in motivating students, right from the start. Both Typing Tutors - 'Two Fingers Conversion Course' and the 'Crash Course in Typing' - have been well designed and structured and have incorporated modern methods for training adults. I can wholeheartedly recommend the Conversion Course to anyone who is currently using the PCW and the Crash Course to all newcomers. Iansyst have clearly thought through the whole question of improving keyboard skills and come up with two excellent packages designed specifically to address the markets they have identified.