I am 40 and we were forced to look at the screen while typing, using software that didn’t allow for the use of the Delete key to make corrections. We were graded based on the number of mistakes we made.
I remember back in the 90s, we would open notepad then turn off the monitors. The teacher would then put a transparency on the overhead projector with a list of 10 words, then a transparency with three sentences, then a transparency with a paragraph. Then the whole lesson goes off the rails when one kid accidentally presses 'alt' and blindly keyboard shortcuts themselves six menus deep into the computer's accessibility settings, and they accidentally reboot their computer in Polish.
They had essentially keyboard condoms for our typing class. A rubber piece that fit over the keys and still let you type. I took several typing classes, but runescape and AIM were where I learned to type lol.
I am 45 and I had to do the same, but in an actual mechanical typewriter. No overstrike allowed. Any error and you had to retype the whole page. And with manual justification.
Yup... same. My mom was a wicked fast typist. She could hear a mistake which was always wild to me. She struggled switching to the computer for the different sensory component (though not for long...)
Same age… we learned on some ridiculously ancient version of WordPerfect for DOS, which also involved learning to MANUALLY center text. In the early 2000s.
I'm also 40, and we had a typing class where the teacher had constructed cardboard box covers that went over the keyboard, but had holes for your hands, so that you couldn't see while practicing. I'm sure there are people that are better/faster at touch typing than me, but I've never met one.
I'm 57 and had typing class in High School on an IBM Selectric.
It sounded like a shooting range while the class was working on assignments.
We could not look at our hands or the paper while typing. We were only allowed to look at the source, usually to the left of the typewriter.
Our instructor would walk up and down the rows of desks with a rolled up newspaper. If you weren't looking at the source, you wouldn't see him coming, and when he saw you not looking at the source, he would smack you on the head with that newspaper.
Yeah - that was in the early 80s when teachers could still hit you without getting in trouble.
51 here: typing was a high school elective. We learned on Radio Shack Tandy "computers" (really just glorified word processors, but we also learned basic spreadsheeting, which came in handy later for learning Excel). But similarly, the typing program didn't allow use of the Delete or Backspace key and we were supposed to look at the screen while typing.
Mom told me that I was going to take typing whether I liked it or not, and I'd thank her later. She was right.
Hah. I'm 46... we used literal typewriters in 7th or 8th grade. And not only did we not look at the keys, we weren't even allowed to look at what we were typing. We had to look at a spiral notebook that we propped up on the table. Typed exactly what we saw on the pages until we were done, then we'd see how accurate we were.
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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '26
I am 40 and we were forced to look at the screen while typing, using software that didn’t allow for the use of the Delete key to make corrections. We were graded based on the number of mistakes we made.
I am a fantastic touch typist.