| Touch-type Read
and Spell |
| School Pilot Information |
Information for Schools, Colleges and
Universities on how to set up a free
Three Week Pilot of the Touch-type Read and Spell Computer Course.
Teacher training and pilot at Long Bay School Auckland New Zealand |
Teacher training at Elliot Bank Primary School South London |
 |
Teacher training in Singapore |
School/College/Institution Licences
We will be pleased to set up a free three week pilot which includes two hours intensive initial
teacher training at schools and colleges and other institutions who wished to
promote literacy for their students.
Version 7 suitable for
PC's using Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT and XP
| To set up the Touch-type Read and
Spell computer course pilot please print off and complete the
questionnaire
(which is a Word document) and Fax it to TTRS on +44 (0) 20 8313
9454.
On receipt of your FAX we will call you to arrange
a mutually convenient time for the training of up to four teachers. We
will then despatch the software to you so that it can be installed and
tested before we come to your site for the two-hour training
session. This must be undertaken before the teachers are licensed
to run the course.
Return the questionnaire by fax and please do not
hesitate to telephone if you have any questions. Also would you please
provide us with three alternative dates of when the pilot would be
convenient, allowing us at least 10 days notice. |
Three Week
Pilot - background information
 Evaluation
- Free Pilot Scheme
The purpose of the Touch-type Read and Spell Computer Course is to
help develop the literacy skills of students who have difficulties with reading,
writing and spelling and at the same time increase their level of self-esteem
and motivation as learners.
First Step
Touch-type Read and Spell offers a free three-week pilot course to
schools, colleges, and other organisations considering the course as part of the
curriculum. We will come to your site and train up to four teachers. The
training takes two hours, thirty minutes of which involves the teachers working
one to one with students.
Which students benefit?
Because of its multi-sensory and carefully structured approach the
course, when correctly delivered, is highly effective for students whose
literacy difficulties include special educational needs including specific
learning difficulties (dyslexia), visual and hearing impairments, Down's
syndrome, EBD etc, and disrupted educational history. It has also been found to
be effective for people who speak English as an additional language.
How many benefit?
During the pilot period, we encourage you to try the course out with an
unlimited number of students. The free three-week pilot gives you, your
colleagues and students the opportunity to thoroughly apply the course without
cost or obligation other than reimbursing the travel expenses of our trainer. It
provides your trained staff the opportunity to build their confidence and
expertise in delivery, and gauge success before entering into a licence to
establish TTRS at your centre.
 Excellent software; excellence in
teaching
The Touch-type Read and Spell Computer Course is not simply an
excellent piece of software, it is a partnership between the software and the
way in which the course is delivered. The training is not difficult, but it does
enable us to introduce the features of the software, and pass on to you a
methodology for successful delivery which has been refined over the past
seventeen
years and which consistently demonstrates success and cost-effective good
practice. When TTRS is delivered correctly, not only will you observe
improvement in literacy skills; you should also expect to see improved
self-esteem, confidence, motivation as learners, and positive behaviour shifts
in your students. The course is designed to make learners feel empowered and
successful from the very first lesson, and older students in particular are
likely to observe that they feel in charge of their own learning often for the
first time in their lives. In addition, students frequently feel proud to be
taking a computer course, particularly one which leads them to greater facility
with computers through the acquisition of keyboard skills.
Delivery
Ideally, the course is delivered in a dedicated computer suite by a
trained teacher working with up to ten students at a time, as part of the
curriculum, and with students attending for a minimum of an hour a week. In the
"real world", however, it is delivered in a range of ways, including
by peripatetic teachers working one-to-one on laptops. Whatever your situation,
for the purposes of the three-week pilot, TTRS is best delivered in a
dedicated computer suite which is free from distractions with a ratio of not
more than one teacher to ten students attending for a minimum of 30 minutes per
session. The teacher should be able to see all the computer screens from one
central position.
Who may offer TTRS?
Once trained, your staff are named in the site licence. Only those who
have completed the full two hours training are entitled to deliver the course
during the pilot and beyond. This means that staff should be free to participate
in the whole scheduled two-hour training session and not be required for other
duties during this time.
Continuity
It is our experience that once the pilot is up and running, staff and
students are usually so enthusiastic that the decision to establish TTRS on an
ongoing basis is made well before the three-week pilot has concluded. Regardless
of how early during the pilot you fax in your order for the year, the annual
licence starts at the end of the free three-week pilot period. Whether or not
you proceed with the course, there is no charge for the pilot.
Adding students throughout the year
TTRS is a roll-on roll-off course with students working at their
own pace. You are licencing places on the course, so more than one student might
occupy a place during the year. Additional places can be added at any time
during the year.
Proceeding with the Pilot - next
steps
Once you have decided to proceed, please complete the
questionnaire
and fax it back to us. On receipt, we will telephone to arrange the training
which can take place as soon as you have received and installed the software
(usually a minimum of 10 working days after you have sent the fax requesting the
pilot).
2010 Fees...
or telephone
020 8464 1330
or
email info@ttrs.co.uk
Quotations from
various articles
"Observing the
fidgety somewhat clumsy, often impulsive learners who tumble into the programme
crashing about on the keyboard and jumping up to take breaks (the kinaesthetic
learners) is interesting. They are the fiddlers in the classroom whose legs tap
at the chair or who doodle on books. Once they understand the programme and
'feel' their way through the first three weeks, calm descends. These tactile
learners show impressive touch typing skills and increased concentration. Of all
the students, these reap the most rewards both parental admiration and
self-esteem. Perhaps sitting still, paying attention, concentrating and
achieving are new experiences. Hopefully, achieving in this positive learning
environment whilst having control of the situation will be a transferable skill
for other learning environments."
Vanessa Charter Update Report for
Nottingham Dyslexia Association
"This course
gives young offenders a sense of achievement and you can observe improvements in
their self-esteem and a shift in their attitude. This is the key to getting them
back into education. It will only happen if they feel better about
themselves....Another young offender who is extremely resistant to any further
education and won't turn up for anything anyone offers him or arranges for him -
including interviews for court - does turn up, entirely voluntarily, twice a
week for this course. It's the only thing he'll do. It's not part of his
order."
James Lewis, Wiltshire Youth Offending
Team
"It's been a great success.
The children have progressed a lot and it surprises me how much they
consistently look forward to their weekly sessions. Everyone says how good the
course is! The students and their parents are absolutely delighted with the
progress that's been made in just one hour a week."
Ken Conie, - Down's Syndrome Association
Journal
"The scheme uses
a variety of strategies to break the cycle of failure. By the end of the course,
students have improved their spelling, reading, short-term Memory, co-ordination
and concentration....They see that they are mastering the computer but what
really encourages them is the improvement in their spelling."
Sally McKeown, Times Educational
Supplement Oct. 18 1996
"....the results
they get after a few sessions using the typing program helps them to lose this
'can't do' attitude."..."to measure the effect of learning keyboard
skills...pupils (were) assessed by an educational psychologist the term before
the project began and again two terms later. They discovered that not only were
the children able to touch type but their reading and spelling had improved. The
self-confidence that had manifested itself in the typing class was carried
through to other lessons. These results showed us that the benefits were long
term...."
Maureen McTaggart Times Educational
Supplement September 6 1996
"It seems to me
that Touch-type Read and Spell is an excellent teaching/learning tool for
use in prisons for students who are non-readers, need to improve their basic
skills and/or diagnosed as Dyslexic. The course itself is flexible enough to be
integrated with other programmes leading to national qualifications such as
Wordpower, Key skills or Social and Life skills Units. The delivery of the
course recognises that students learn in a variety of ways and continuous
assessment and positive (reinforcement) are integral to their progress."
P Robson - HM Prison Service
If you would like
a copy of any of the articles from which these quotations were taken, please
let us know.
Utterby Primary School
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