The best free educational typing apps- learn typing easily

If you are spending a considerable amount of time in front of your computer trying to write a short email to your friend then you need to consider your typing skills. and if it happens that you are an educator like us then you MUST reconsider your touch typing habits immediately. This is the 21 st century and teaching and learning have evolved so rapidly that we need technology in every move we make. There is no excuse for you not to master your keyboard or even your touch screen if you are using a mobile device. Yes now it is the age of mobile learning which means that computers and laptops are taking the backseat. I am not trying to frustrate you but rather stress upon the importance of something that many people do not pay attention to.



For us in education , its the means that justify the ends. we need internet in our daily work and the first gate to this virtual world is the keyboard. The more we master typing skills the better our interaction with this world becomes. Given this huge importance of touch typing for educators i decided to assemble a short list of the best online applications that can in a short span of time make a difference in your typing experience. Be it a simple beginner or just a curious person looking forward to develop his/her typing speed, these free typing apps can help you improve the accuracy and the overall typing speed. You will eventually learn how to type fast with both hands using all of your fingers without looking at the keyboard. Remember, It might take anywhere from  a couple of weeks to 2-3 months before you master your keyboard and believe  me it will all pay off in the long run.

Here are the best apps you need to consider when improving your typing skills.

10-Fast-Fingers
I have already covered this application in an earlier post entitled 10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing. This tools allows its users to test their typing speed to find out how fast they type and where they position themselves against others……. read more in 10-Fast-Fingers tutorial.




TypeRacer


TypeRacer is an online speed typing game. It allows its users to race each other by typing quotes from books, movies, and songs. It is the first multiplayer typing game on the web. This is a sort of competitive game where you have to type accurately and fast to get your car to the end point before the others. It is a real time game that you will enjoy so much.
Here is a video tutorial to learn more about TypeRacer ( the guy in the video really amazes me )

Keybr


Keybr is a tool for touch typing practice. It allows its users to improve their typing speed togther with typing without having to look at the keyboard. There are several layout to choose from , select the one you want and there you go.

You can choose from three basic lessons that start with a certain number of keys on the keyboard, and then, as you progress through the lessons, more keys are introduced to the mix to make things a little tougher. As an added bonus, our software keeps track of all your mistakes and your words–per–minute (wpm) — and even creates graphs of your day–by–day performance.

TypeFaster
TypeFaster is a tool that teaches you how to touch type fast uisng a set of free typing tutorials. This program comes in three version: Standard, Accessible and Spanish. The Standard version is the ideal one so far for it has quite many interesting features such as:

• It supports multiple keyboard layouts
• It offers a clear indication of which fingers to use
• It has multi user support
• It also offers different versions for single user, multi user and multi user with teacher support.

Head over to TypeFaster to learn more.

Typing Lessons Online
Typing Lessons Online is a free touch typing program that allows its users to type fast using their ten fingers. It offers free and interactive typing lessons and exercises for all levels. It will help you :

• Learn touch typing online
• Learn which fingers correspond to which keyboard keys
• Improve your error rate and typing speed

Here is a video tutorial to show you how to use Typing Lessons Online

TypingWeb
Typing Web is a free web service that allows its users to learn fast typing through a series of comprehensive keyboarding lessons and games. This application covers the three levels: beginner, advanced, and special. Just choose the one that suits you and there you go.
if you want to learn more here is a short video tutorial for you

I hope you will try some of these apps and it would be better if you consider  introducing them to your students and help them master the art of keyboarding.
I know there are many other web applications that can help you improve your typing speed but the ones mentioned above are among the best ones.

Continue Reading

10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing

10-Fast-Fingers is a cool web application. It allows its users to test their typing speed to find out how fast they type and where they position themselves against others. In an earlier post entitled Radial- speed up typing on iPad, i talked about how  this mobile app can speed up your typing and help you save your time. As educators, we need to be in a good position to type in quickly and get what we want from the keyboard very easily. I know not one of us was born a good and fast ‘typer’ but practice makes better.

10-Fast-Fingers will help you achieve that purpose. Do not forget this tool alone is not enough but i will be soon providing you with extra tools to help you out. I was a very slow typist and sometimes it would be a source of embarrassment for me to type in a meeting or a conference because it would take me forever to finish what i would type but with perseverance and hard work i become now a very good keyboard handler.

Some features of 10-Fast-Fingers

here is a list of the main features that 10-Fast-Fingers offers to its users:

• It is free to use
• It is easy and simple
• It does not require any download or sign up
• It measures your touch typing speed
• It lets you share your results with others by embedding them onto your blog or personal webpage
• It supports German, French, Spanish, Catalan, Turkish, Russian, Swedish, & Italian languages.

How can i get started using 10-Fast-Fingers ?

As i said before , it is very easy to use all you need to do is:

1. Head over to 10-Fast-Fingers main page
2. Start typing in the box displayed there for you
3. When the time is over it will show you the typing spee along with your rank among people who took the test

That’s it about 10-Fast-Fingers – test and improve your typing .

Continue Reading

Radial- speed up typing on iPad

Radial is a cool mobile app. It allows its users to type quickly on their iPads. As you know , one of the inconveniences of the idevices is typing. Many users find it hard to type quickly on their touch screens because they can not reach all the keys of the virtual keyboard while holding the iPad with both hands. The only solution they have is to hold the iPad with one hand and type with the other. OMG  can you imagine the hassle this situation creates ? I would not love to suffer when typing that is why i started exploring possible solutions to this problem and finally i come up with an app that you would like for sure. This app is called Radial.

Some features of Radial

Here is a list of the main features that Radial offers to its users:

• It is free
• It is easy to use
• It has a user-friendly interface
• It allows its users to type quickly
• It divides the keyboard to speed up typing
• It includes a spell-checker, an emailer, and a web search function
• It is compatible with Compatible with iPad and requires iOS 4.0 or later.

How can i get started using Radial ?

Here is a short video tutorial to show you how this handy app works

There are many other iPad apps that you can use with your students in the classroom Check out Educational iPad Apps to learn more.

Continue Reading

TypeLink – a Great Note Taking Mobile App

TypeLink is a cool mobile app for educators. It is a great cloud-based note-taking wiki application. It allows its users to create, store and edit their notes wherever they are. If you have an iOS smart- device then you can use this notepad tool for free.

Educators can use this app to organize their notes and have access to them be it in the classroom, in a meeting or in a plane. The information you store either through the app or through the browser is automatically synced.

Some features of TypeLink

Here are the main features that TypeLink offers to its users:

• It is free
• It is simple and easy to use
• It has intuitive interface
• It lets you organize your notes in pages that link to each other
• It allows its users to store notes online on unique shareable public URLs
• It Adds colors to differentiate URLs from regular text
• It automatically recognizes the links you enter in
• It is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS 3.1.3 or later
• You can notes publicly with a simple URL

How can i get started using TypeLink ?

Here is a short video tutorial to walk you through the different steps you need to better handle TypeLink.

If you liked this post then you might also like to check the other Educational Note Taking Mobile Apps you might need for your classroom.
That’s it about TypeLink – a Great Note Taking Mobile App.

Continue Reading

Puzzle Man – a Mobile App to Sharpen your Thinking Skills

Puzzle Man is a cool mobile app for educators. It allows its users to play puzzle games on their mobile devices. I am introducing this app here because of the importance of such games in students’ learning experiences. Studies have proved that a regulated exposure to brain games such as puzzles can have positive effects on the kids’ brain development. It helps them develop critical thinking skills and improve their ‘reaction span’. and since some of these apps  are free why not then give them a try and dive your students into a world of effective mobile learning which is the aim behind the creation of this blog after all.

Some features of Puzzle Man

here is a list of the main features that Puzzle Man offers to its users:

• It is free
• It is easy to use
• It has user – friendly interface
• It allows its users to enjoy different puzzle games
• It offers puzzles with different difficulty levels
• It also offers Zoom in / out with multitouch gestures
• It is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS 3.2 or later

How can i get started using Puzzle Man ?

Here is a short video tutorial to show you how to better use this app on your iPhone or iPad :

There are many more Educational Mobile Gaming Apps that you can check out .
That’s it about Puzzle Man – a Mobile App to Sharpen your Thinking Skills.

Continue Reading

Wiki Summarizer – Get The Best Wikipedia Results

Wiki Summarizer is a great application for educators. It automatically summarizes the Wikipedia articles using keywords. It also provides a list of related articles to your search query. These summaries are stored in a relational database for users to explore instantly and easily.

Some features of Wiki Summarizer

Here are the features that Wiki Summarizer provides for its users. this is just an excerpt from their official website: ( taken from Wiki summarizer about page )

1. efficiently search across ALL Wikipedia pages for references to your topic
2. download the summaries as text for your research, publishing, learning and blog writing
3. download the summaries as mind maps for instant visualization in your favorite mind mapping application
4. take notes – quickly collect topics and sentences from all contextually relevant Wikipedia pages
5. speed-up reading by condensing each article to the essential keywords and summaries
6. make a long story short – the summaries headline most important sentences giving instant information capsules

Applications of Wiki Summarizer in education

we all know Wikipedia is a great resource for both teachers and students. It is probably the primary springboard for students online searches. With Wiki Summarizer , Wikipedia will have a another feel and students will love it for sure  . It will enable them to get the best results all summarized in one page and accessible at the instance of a click. Their broad topics will now be narrowed down and so much time will be save.
That’s it about Wiki Summarizer – get the best Wikipedia results.

Continue Reading

BookletCreator – turn your PDFs into Awesome Booklets

BookletCreator is a great web application that we can use in educations. As its name entails , it enables users to easily and quickly convert any PDF document to a printable booklet. We, sometimes, love to read docs in paper format and PDF is one of the best ones available but today i am introducing BookletCare that will add another touch to your reading experience. This app does all for you , it reorders the pages in such a way that when you print your documents they will be easily folded into a booklet.

Some features of BookletCare

here are the main features that BookletCare offers to its users:

• It offers a free download
• It is easy and simple to use
• It has intuitive interface
• It allows you to turn docs and PDFs into awesome booklets
• It does not require any sign up
• PDF document should have “Portrait” paper orientation
• If you have a large document you can use “pages per booklet” feature to split the document into multiple booklets

How does BookletCare work ?

First you need to make sure that the documents that you want to turn into Booklets are in PDF format and if they are not then you need to convert them into PDF using PDF Conversion tools.

1. Upload your PDF document
2. Run the BookletCreator to process the docs
3. Download the ready file
4. Print it out and follow the given instructions to turn pages into a booklet

Here is a detailed list of the instructions you need to follow to turn docs into a booklet.
That’s it about BookletCreator – turn your PDFs into Awesome Booklets.

Continue Reading

PageFlipFlap - Convert PDFs and Docs into Flip books

PageFlipFlap is a great software that we can use in education. It allows its users to convert any Word or PDF document into a flip book. I personally like the sleek and clean format of flip books. They are such an enjoyment to read. So if you are fed up with scrolling down pages every time you are about to read a doc or PDF then you can use PageFlipFlap to change your reading experience.

PageFlipFlap also allows you to turn even images and pictures into a flip book. The final version of your book will be sent to your email address. The link included in this email can be used to view your flip book or share it with others using Facebook and Twitter.

Some features of PageFlipFlap

Here are the main features that PageFliFlap offers to its users:

• It is free
• It is easy and simple to use
• It has a web-friendly interface
• It lets you make a flipbook from documents , images or movies
• It does not require any sign up
• It allows you to upload your docs and receive URL in email
• It offers different options such as : searching , zooming, and downloading, display in full screen or thumbnail view.
• You can share your flipbook with your friends

How can i get started using PageFlipFlap ?

As i said before, it is very easy to use PageFlipFlap. All you need to do is

1. upload the documents or images
2. provide an email address to receive the link to your flipbook
3. Use that link to view your flipbook and share it with others

The only inconvenient you might notice in this application is that the interface is cluttered with ads but the functionality stays intact.
You can check out the other PDF tools and File Conversion Applications that you might need in your classroom .

Continue Reading