Learning to Type with an Ultrakey Online Family Subscription – Review

Hunt…hunt ….. peck … hunt… peck….

And so it goes.  Watching my kids try to type their special school projects and emails to friends was painful.  They were excited to be using the computer and didn’t mind the slow-as-molasses speed, but, me?  I couldn’t stand it.  That’s why I was jumped at the chance for an Ultrakey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning.  

After getting our log-in information, I checked out the dashboard, which is the main screen.  From there you can set goals, add students, check progress, and more.

I knew that My Little Man couldn’t type at all, and My Big Helper wasn’t all that much better.  I set their goals relatively low, between 10 and 20 words per minute, and got them ready to go.

Each kid worked with the program at least twice each week (except for when our modem died and we were without internet for a week).  At first My Little Man loved the idea – until he sat down and tried it.  He was soon frustrated by the posture (“You mean I can’t sit on my feet?”) and tried to make his fingers follow his directions (“It’s hard, Mommy.  I didn’t get it right.”)  After realizing that it was okay to keep practicing a single set of letters and not advance with each practice session, he stopped worrying.  Within a week, he was typing over ten words per minute!  Now he asks after breakfast each morning, “What should I do for school, Mommy?  Math and typing?”

I love that it’s become a part of his regular routine.  He’s comfortable with the program, knows how to use it, and is happy when he gets faster or achieves great accuracy.

My Big Helper’s experience was a bit different.  She was excited all the way through and wanted to become a faster typist.  She has a finger issue which has hindered her accuracy a bit, but she’s doing well and is approaching 20 words per minute.  She’s been quite dedicated and hasn’t wanted to stop practicing a particular lesson until she passes, sometimes working well past the expected time.

To know exactly what they were doing, I set up an account for myself and logged myself in.  I didn’t set a goal since I haven’t been timed while typing since seventh grade, but I jumped right in to the lessons.

There’s a lot of introductory material that’s important for new keyboardists but maybe not too exciting for experienced typers – like videos about proper posture.  These things are great for newbies, though, and I’m glad they’re included.

The lessons are perfectly challenging for my kids: they introduce a few letters at a time and practice different combinations of finger movements.  The idea is to start with simple, basic movements and practice those before layering on more difficult finger patterns.  I like the way that I could see the progression.  It made me feel very accomplished to see the skill levels light up and get crossed off.

 

Each lesson consists of working with a new group of letters starting with home row and moving out.  After practicing those individual letters, you move on to words and phrases.  I liked the variation in each practice session.

After passing a skill check, I moved on to a typing test.  The tests let you choose the topic, paragraph length, and time length before starting.  You can also redo the test if you don’t do well.  I was surprised to see the ‘redo’ button, and so I pushed it.  I got the above message after trying again.  I love the encouraging messages that Ultrakey gives whenever you do well!

After taking a skill check, you can view progress reports.  I love the simplicity of the bar graphs and the color coding of the charts – the teacher in me loves color coding!  

Both of my kids have made great progress in only a few weeks of using Ultrakey by Bytes of Learning.  They enjoy logging in and practicing their keyboarding, and the website is simple enough that they can do it all on their own.  I can applaud their progress when they cheer for themselves and track their progress in the form of charts, graphs, and real numerical data whenever it’s convenient for me.

I love seeing how well they’re doing with their typing, and it’s even better that they love using Ultrakey by Bytes of Learning so very much.  I can’t wait to see how fast they’ll be after a few months!