Today I want to share with you about Bytes of Learning, an online source for learning typing.  UltraKey Online Family Subscription  has been proven effective for ages 8+ to Adult, but has been used for children as young as 5 years old.

UltraKey Online provides clear, voice-supported instruction with animation and video. This family subscription lets a parent or tutor manage the use of the program, while the family members learn to type. Good for home schoolers, and helping children do better at school. Compatible with browsers on Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, and iPads. HTML5. No plugins.

Touch-typing has to be taught, which is why UltraKey Online uses crystal-clear animated instruction to convey every important technique.UltraKey Online offers exciting new features including directed language arts activities. Once the basics are in place, the exciting new Game Zone provides typing fun, developing reading and writing skills, and improving typing fluency.

My Review

 I started this review period with high expectations for myself and my children. I thought we would really excel at typing using this program.  Being a graduate of 3 years of typing in high school, I really thought we would enjoy this. Well, I wanted the children to enjoy it and learn to type without looking at the keys and playing hunt and peck. I found the interface easy to learn and it was easy for me to go in and set things up for the children. I quickly got them set up and into the assessment in the beginning so that we could see where we were at.  They progressed thru the part that accessed their abilities so that we would have a goal to work toward while building our skills.  We then learned  proper posture and finger placement, which I feel is very important when sitting to type. We learned the importance of getting up periodically and stretching, so that we did not become sedentary, also important when working on the computer.  I had read recently that prolonged sitting can lead to poor health, so this was a nice bonus as the program reminds you when to take a break from sitting.

We had some glitches in the online program which may have been caused by my own internet or the program itself. (voice of the online tutor repeating itself and the movies or quizzes also freezing up, where you click on the person for the quiz seemed to not have immediate recognition to allow one to get through the quiz quickly. ) After we got passed that part , it seemed to go more smoothly.  We worked on trying to progress thru the lessons and worked on building accuracy.  I will say that we did do well with this area.   The parent/teacher part of the program that allows you to see how each student is doing is a nice feature and it allowed me to know exactly where the children were at in their learning and also allowed me to set personal goals for each individually.

My 10 year old son had fun playing in the game zone which I feel is more geared toward younger children and perhaps fun for a child age 10 or under.  My teens were bored with this area , as it was not really aimed at older children.  My teens were also not thrilled with the slowness of the lessons and the lack of no real reward for finishing a lesson.  They also felt that the graphics and lessons could have been more geared toward children and teens. Being an artist at heart, I have to agree.  It was plain and somewhat mundane even for myself.  Even with how rusty my typing skills have become over the years, it seemed slow and not that interesting.  I feel we would have enjoyed the program much better had it been more interactive and colorful.  A reward system on it would make it more fun for the children and hold their attention longer.

For those who have not taken typing in the past as we had, I think it might work out better for you.  Learning the basics of typing is key to being able to work efficiently if you are homeschooling or working online as we do.  If you have children who need to learn these skills for the first time I think you would be able to utilize this program to benefit your family and find great success !

You can learn more about Bytes of Learning on Social on Facebook !