Do you touch-type or hunt-and-peck?

[lanux128]

recently a couple lamented that the school their kids go to do not have any formal classes to teach typing on a computer. i didn't realise that learning to type is important. do current work scope generally require the applicants to turn in an assessment showing what is their words-per-minute (wpm) speed?

i for one never learned how to type, always relying on word-expanders and auto-correcting macros to correct my mistakes when typing my reports and whatnot. therefore i am curious how important is it to learn to type-touch instead of hunt-and-peck and i would like to open this question to all here. how many of you have learned to touch-type and is it worth spending some time (especially for youngsters) learning it?

• related link on wikipedia

[skwire]

I touch-type but have never taken formal classes or anything.  However, if a child has the opportunity to take a formal class, by all means, they should.

[scancode]

Hunt-and-peckers should be tied up to a post and bashed with typewriters.
J/K.


Besides that, just what skwire said

[cyberdiva]

I took a summer school typing class many years ago when I was in high school.  I've always been glad that I did.  I touch type pretty quickly, and I can type just as well on someone else's keyboard as on my own--a definite advantage over depending on text expanders and macros, I think.  I don't know about kids today--with their heavy use of texting with just their thumbs, etc., I don't know whether they'd find touch typing so useful.  But at least at present, I don't think they can text their term papers and reports 

[sri]

I can't stress highly enough to those who haven't learnt typing how useful you will find if/once you learn it.

I took typing classes for only 15 days when I was in 10th standard but those basics were enough to make me type very quickly compared to most of my colleagues who keep looking at the keyboard when they type.

Like lanux, I also heavily use shortcut tools like PhraseExpress, Macro Express, AutoHotKey, FARR.

[jgpaiva]

I think it's not that important to actually have a class on touch typing.
I think I write fast enough for my needs, and never had any class.
For me, it might have been useful, however I don't think it's the kind of thing that all kids should learn.
I consider it as something that a specialized group of people might benefit from, and thus only those should choose to have the classes.
For people that specialize in something unrelated to computers, it's just a waste of school resources and of their own time.

[skwire]

For people that specialize in something unrelated to computers, it's just a waste of school resources and of their own time.

I would disagree.  Even if a person is in a field unrelated to computers, they are still going to have to write/type reports all the way through their schooling.

[40hz]

Mavis Beacon changed my life back in 1987.

[jgpaiva]

skwire: true, but see this: the more they type, the better people get at touch-typing.
I think people learn more from the other classes they have now, than on a class of touch-typing. That's why I mentioned it might be an optional extra class, but never a class to replace one of the current classes.

[skwire]

skwire: true, but see this: the more they type, the better people get at touch-typing.

Agreed.  However, I think one class to get them some basics is a good thing.  You know...trying to head off bad habits before they start.

I think people learn more from the other classes they have now, than on a class of touch-typing. That's why I mentioned it might be an optional extra class, but never a class to replace one of the current classes.

Sure, I don't condone, say, a whole series of keyboarding classes in lieu of more important ones.  I think one class should be sufficient to get the basics down.  The rest, as you say, will come with practice.

[Innuendo]

Computers are everywhere therefore keyboards are everywhere. That means there are very few aspects of professional and personal life where one doesn't have to type to one extent or another. Any skill (touch typing) that can make that more efficient while not being crucial does indeed make one's life easier.

[y0himba]

Hunt and peck all the way.  I took typing a couple of times, can't do it. I can type a whole 17 words a minute, and even spell some of them. 

[scancode]

I was serious about the public whipping w/ typewriters thing!

[SKesselman]

I took 6 months of touch typing in 7th grade, & I found it incredibly useful, but not until college. I think you learn better when you're younger.
It was easy to re-learn. I had a very hard time learning 10 key for the first time in accounting school, and I still can't do it.
I barely made the speed requirements to graduate.

I'm pretty sure it's all about practice, whether you take a formal class, or not.
My bf is a public writer & I've never seen anyone type as fast as he can. It's as if he's typing faster than most people speak.
I'm pretty certain he's never had formal instruction. As for his wmp, he has no idea.

[CWuestefeld]

skwire: true, but see this: the more they type, the better people get at touch-typing.

No, the more hunt-and-peckers type, the better they get at hunt-and-pecking. They'll never become touchtypers without a concerted effort.

Typing was one of the most valuable classes I took in high school, and has helped me considerably through my career.

If you ever saw my handwriting, you'd be glad that I type everything. But so am I -- I can type much faster than anyone can write longhand, or h&p.  I am much more efficient this way.

On the downside, I'm almost completely incapable of using nonstandard keyboards, either with odd keyplacement (who decided to move the home/end keys?!) or in sizing. Notebook computers give me fits.

[40hz]

I was serious about the public whipping w/ typewriters thing!

Kinky! Just remember: 'special requests' like that will cost you extra.


P.S. They're offering a special this week on Python programmers who will code your web app while dressed up as Little Bo Peep.

[mrainey]

Four fingers, working hard.

[4wd]

Four fingers, working hard.

I can go to six in a pinch  

Regarding the need to type to submit reports in school, etc: maybe if they went back to making them submit reports in writing they'd learn to spell.

[scancode]

I was serious about the public whipping w/ typewriters thing!

Kinky! Just remember: 'special requests' like that will cost you extra.


P.S. They're offering a special this week on Python programmers who will code your web app while dressed up as Little Bo Peep.

Excuse me? I wasn't talking about the kinky way, more like the Spanish Inquisition guys did...

[cranioscopical]

more like the Spanish Inquisition guys did...

You'll be needing this!

[attach]

[Shades]

And the typewriters that were used by the Spanish Inquisition...they were made of gold and transported by the Spanish Armada, I assume?    

[Paul Keith]

skwire: true, but see this: the more they type, the better people get at touch-typing.

No, the more hunt-and-peckers type, the better they get at hunt-and-pecking. They'll never become touchtypers without a concerted effort.

Typing was one of the most valuable classes I took in high school, and has helped me considerably through my career.

If you ever saw my handwriting, you'd be glad that I type everything. But so am I -- I can type much faster than anyone can write longhand, or h&p.  I am much more efficient this way.

On the downside, I'm almost completely incapable of using nonstandard keyboards, either with odd keyplacement (who decided to move the home/end keys?!) or in sizing. Notebook computers give me fits.

No. I started out as a hunt and pecker and then one day just unconsciously became a pseudo-touch typist.

I'm not saying it's a case of practicing though. It's just that the more you need to utilize a program, the more you just "get" the convenience.

I started similarly with Remember the Milk's keyboard shortcut.

I hated it, hated it, hated it until one day I just need to put in a task and I found it so annoying and then when I was looking for a replacement online to-do list, I just "got" RTM's system even if ironically enough, when I tried Todoist, I just couldn't get settled on using their keyboard shortcut settings despite it being only the second time I used RTM.

[J-Mac]

More like "Hunt & Pound" method here. Especially if I am not getting the Google results I want or something similar. I go through keyboards as if they are consumables. 

Jim

[f0dder]

Autodidact touch typist here. I started writing on my dad's electrical typewriter many many moons ago, and fortunately computer keyboards turned out to have the same QWERTY layout (well, you could say unfortunately because the layout sucks, but...)

I honestly don't know how useful touch typing is to the majority of people, though. Both when programming and writing reports for school, I spend much more time thinking&planning than on actual typing. Sure, hunt-and-peck would be a serious slowdown, but it's not super often I go full-speed WPM bonanza.

[JoTo]

Hi,

typing classes were mandantory in my school while i was about 15-18. So i had to learn it and today i thank god that it was this way..

I am now at approx. 278 cps, corrected to 268 cps for 2 typos i made in the last test i did (Online-Test, typing a given very long regular text, typing for 3 min. as far as you can get). I think i am faster when i don't have to read the text i have to type (this slows me down a lot for my bad eyesight) and if the text wasn't in english - german words are more practical to me.

And as a 10 finger touch typer, i am able to type blind without looking at the keyboard. Keeping my eyes on the screen and noticing my typos immediately and so i can correct them. Mostly no need for later proofreading again the whole text. That saves time as well.

(Possible typos in this message results a) from my not native english tongue, b) my bad eyesight and c) of not doing proofreading of course *LOOOOL* )

If i'd were a boss, i'd pay someone 10% less if he can't touch type with all 10 fingers, as he is slower for sure as everyone else doing hunt and pecking.

But it also depends on what you have to do. I, as a programmer, profit from my typing skills only, if i write regular text (like in manuals, comments, mails and forum posts). I can't get the speed advantage while typing program code with all the brackets, parenthese and other special characters and strange character order you need to type in code.

So my summary:
YES, they should learn it for our nowadays modern world, indeed! And it should be mandantory for sure!

Greetings
JoTo

PS:
What about a DC speed typing contest?
Here is the URL of the online speed typing test i did (The company sells type learning software, but the test is free for everyone - they tell you afterwards that you can get faster if you purchase their software ).

  http://www.typingtest.com

I start the contest with my following results :

Test Time:      3 min.
Selected Text: Astronauts
Typing Speed:  278 CPM
Accuracy:       97 %
NET SPEED:     268 CPM

Hey! And DON'T CHEAT!