Warrington

An extract from the "Keyboard Crazy Project" report by Warrington LEA.

Keyboard Crazy is an innovative game, which enables pupils to develop Keyboard Skills at a very rapid rate. It is a stand-alone game and as such does not take up valuable IT time at the computer. The game consists of a mock keyboard, faithfully reproduced to represent a computer keypad, thus enabling generalisation of skills when the child transfers back to the computer.

It has various interchangeable inlays ranging from picture phonic recognition through to lower and upper case inlays for keypad familiarity (as well as providing activities for matching lower to uppercase letters etc.). A blank inlay is also provided for pupils to complete, once they have mastered where the keys are. A blue/grey inlay is provided to enable left and right hand co-ordination and keypad orientation to be taught.

The various different coloured packs of letter tiles provided with the game enable pupils to actually place the keys in the right position using one of the inlays provided as well as associated word games such as scrabble, lexicon type games, etc. It provides learning opportunities for up to 3 or 4 pupils at time (using 1 game) who can work collaboratively with each other, discussing and rationalising what and how they have completed tasks set. The game can provide both staff and pupils with stimulating, challenging and fun activities, with an element of competition.

It is particularly relevant to mainstream providers at Key Stage 1 and 2 including Nursery and Reception and to KS 1 - 4 providers within special educational settings/schools.

The University of Liverpool has undertaken a more detailed evaluation of the game and this can be viewed at www.keyboardcrazy.co.uk along with other details of how schools have used the game in school and how it has impacted on their children's attainments, etc.

Background to the Project

As a result of a successful introduction of "Keyboard Crazy" into Green Lane Community Special School and a subsequent "showcase" afternoon, a great deal of interest was generated from other schools across Warrington LEA. After some discussion with the Director for Education and Lifelong Learning and other interested parties, it was agreed to organise a pilot across the LEA to spread the good practice and develop further applications of the game in mainstream Primary and High schools.

The game was originally developed to aid the improvement of keyboard/typing skills without pupils monopolising valuable computer time. It utilises a multi-sensory approach including Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic Learning styles (VAK) as well as a great deal of fun and an element of competition. However, teachers have identified its potential for use across other subjects as an aid to learning and teaching.

The game was never intended as a tool solely for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) as the developments initiated by schools have shown equal success with pupils across the whole spectrum of needs including Gifted, Able and Talented pupils (GAT).

Initially a total of 14 schools indicated a commitment to the project consisting of 12 Primaries, 1 High school and 1 special school. Eight schools have submitted their findings for inclusion in this report.

It should be noted that in an attempt to ensure the project in schools was manageable, without increasing the bureaucratic burden on staff, collection/collation of results etc was kept at a simplistic level and as such this report only shows "headline" results and should be taken in that context. More detailed evaluations can be found on the game's Website as stated earlier.

The pilot began in February 2004 and ran for a period of some 14/16 weeks. Schools were asked to indicate how they would be utilising the game across school or within a particular cohort of pupils. Schools were supported in the implementation of the game by network meetings and the staff of "Keyboard Crazy". As a result, the reports include projects based around typing speeds/keyboard skills as well as phonic awareness, spelling programmes and High Frequency Word Lists (HFW) etc.

Baseline assessments were conducted to ascertain pupil levels and a final summative assessment took place to demonstrate progress over time. Some schools provided an interim report allowing for "crude" comparisons of rates of progress over the period.

Schools providing reports/information

Green Lane Community Special School, Oakwood Avenue Community Primary School, Beamont Community Infant School, Latchford CE (Aided) Primary School, Penketh South Community Primary School, St. Barnabas CE Primary School, St. Bridget's Catholic Primary School and St. Margaret's CE Voluntary Aided Primary School.

Outline findings of the project

All schools noted an increase in motivation, self-esteem and confidence. According to the focus of the project, schools also noted an increase in pupil performance within aspects of literacy or improved typing speeds or improved keyboard recognition skills.

Some schools noted an improvement in behaviours from those pupils involved in the project who have Emotional, Behaviour and Social Difficulties (EBSD). The improvements made by pupils are not entirely attributable to Keyboard Crazy as the game supplements all other strategies and intervent ions available to staff, but it has certainly had a significant impact on those pupils and the staff involved in the project.

The results that follow show some significant improvements amongst individual pupils, in particular one Y3 pupil with SEN whose spelling age improved a whole 12 months from 5.8y to 6.8y in just 12 weeks!

Some schools have shown that the game has a cross-curricular application, beyond simply typing skills and keyboard awareness e.g. inclusion in the Literacy Hour, spellings, phonic awareness, key vocabulary (Science) and MFL to name but some.

One school identified pupils' typing speeds increasing by an average of 44% over the period of the project.

View the full report from Warrington LEA.