Think about:

• When should students start word processing?
  I would think that primary school students would be able to type in a document and by the end of year 6 learnt how to add a table and change fonts ect.
• Is it necessary to teach keyboarding skills?
  Yes, it’s something that comes through practised skill. I remember one of dads only rules to use MSN was that we had to use full words when typing. At the time I was the slowest person to reply because of this, but now I can type really quickly without needed to look at the keyboard so it was worthwhile.
• What effect does world processing have on handwriting?
  I would think it has a decline but mine was never neat to begin with. Another problem is that students typically only handwrite to jot down notes for themselves so they don’t practice proficiency.

• What impact does word processing have on assessment?
  It makes it very hard to do hand assessments after typing them. I think it also reduce creativity as you typically just delete bad ideas rather than working through them on a page and it’s hard to see the natural progression of an idea

• Is the auto correction of spelling a problem?
  It depends, if the student is in a rush and misses a letter it can be useful, but if they get a muscle memory wrong and keep typing it wrong every time it can be hard to change back to the correct spelling. I don’t think removing it would be a good idea though as it’s a good proof reader.