Bytes for Learning’s
Ultrakey 5
By Mitchell Levine
Although not everyone
would agree on the actual educational efficacy of the current
emphasis in our schools on computers, there’s little doubt that in the New York City schools,
at least, they’ve become a focus. From tutorial software,
to Internet research, to specialized classes in graphics and
Web design, students spend more and more time in front of a
monitor.
A strong case can be
made, then, that for students needing to interact with most
digital technology, keyboarding skills are the equivalent
of literacy. As one’s ability to decode
written language is a controlling factor in their access to
learning, an educational computer user is limited by their
ability to manipulate a keyboard. In timed exams in tutorials,
typing is a factor in returned grades. Unfortunately, for most,
typing instruction is still caught up in the 1950s with programmed
learning hardly even an. Thankfully, Bytes of Learning has
brought keyboarding pedagogy into the 21st century with its
latest version of its seminal keyboarding tutor, Ultrakey 5.
Unlike many of the products reviewed here, Ultrakey isn’t
really a tutorial program. Essentially, it’s an updated
version of the old tachistoscope: pour text files into the
application and it flashes them word by word on a viewing screen
at variable rates of speed. Once you’re done reading,
a quick test will inform you as to exactly how successfully
you were able to process the material.
On the other hand,
simply undergoing this process trains the eyes and cortical
centers to operate more expeditiously, which is why the product
also has its “educational mode.” A
series of suggested drills is given to exploit this phenomenon,
and, after undertaking one, I can honestly say that it not
only exercised my reading capacity, but acted as a general
mental hotfoot as well. Once the reading has commenced, typing
instruction follows with a variable rate of speed determined
by the instructor.
Full report capabilities
are available, and the one of the most exciting features
is the server software that Bytes of Learning provides to
both students and teachers. Students can access their classroom
instruction online for an interactive keyboarding lesson
anywhere they have an Internet connection, while teachers
can fully monitor their progress from any location as well.
It’s important to note that this is not a Web-based
product—tutorial lessons are only accessible from within
the software itself, and not from an Internet site.
That’s the best recommendation I can give. For more
information, log onto the company’s site at www.bytesforlearning.com.#
