The BTEC 10/110 Keyboarding with Speed and Accuracy course is a self-paced class that is designed to give the student a crash course on proper keyboarding standards by practicing the alphabet, number, symbol, and 10-key numeric keypad using an online instruction tool called Gregg, also called GDP 11e. The goal is for students to be able to copy example paragraphs as a typing speed test at a speed of 20 wpm (words per minute) or higher with less than two errors learning how to balance speed and accuracy in their typing.
I personally see this as one of the best examples of a course that helps students get proficient at typing. I am actually enrolled in this course for Spring 2020 so I was able to get hands-on experience with the instruction program. Sometimes the Gregg or also known as the Gdp 11e website is quite finicky with certain keystrokes, mostly due to a lack of explanation in the Gregg specific book which is oddly required to interface with the website. However, besides that hiccup, I had a great experience learning and practicing my typing skills on the website. Since this is a self-paced course I was able to complete the class under two weeks, and I saw a percentage increase in my wpm and confidence in my typing speed test with fewer error corrections than I was used to. I quickly noticed that it is not about focusing on being the fastest typist rather, it is about balancing speed and accuracy to achieve a high wpm and low error count. This course is also a great option for students who want to practice their typing skills and need anywhere from 1-5 credits as the student is able to select the number of credits they want to receive from the class. The number of credits that a student selects does change how far the student progresses in the modules.
If there were anything that I would like to change with this course considering my experience, it would be with the Gregg website. I would ditch the required book and take the required paragraph material, putting it in its respective passages throughout the instruction on each page of the site. The rest of the book, i.e., the explanations and guides should be put in the already created section of the site where there are pre-existing documentation and examples. I would do this because it felt like a double whammy having to pay both for a website key to progress through the instruction and a physical book that is required to do almost all of the material for typing speed tests and timed-writings. Other than merging the required book to the website I found my experience to be great without any other notable problems or issues with the site, and I would highly recommend this course for students looking for a great crash course to become proficient in their typing skills.
Reference:
Lower Columbia College – BTEC 10/110. (2020). Retrieved May 21, 2020, from https://wa130.ctclink.us/app/catalog/classsection/WA130/2203/5480
Mozhvilo, E. (2020, April 24). Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from https://unsplash.com/photos/j06gLuKK0GM
Leave a Reply