Exams of the Future...

I once learnt to touch type by spending two days on a program that involved making a car on a computer screen race faster by typing faster. Considering how much time it has saved me since, it was two of the most valuable days I have ever spent learning a new skill.

While students still need to learn to handwrite legibly why not teach touch typing during Primary School. It is possible that by the time they are in year twelve they will be using computers during their end of year exams. Already in Denmark students in Upper Secondary Education are able to ‘utilise all types of aids, including IT’ in their exams (Source: Denmark Ministry of Education). In practise, this means that students are able to use Google as part of their examinations.

We don’t know if today’s primary school students will end up Googling their way through their year 12 exams. We could however take an educated guess that touch typing will still be a valuable skill for people in the workforce in twenty years time. If this is possibly the case then why not start teaching skills for tomorrow today.