What is the Difference?

I just thought of this article from the idea of my previously published drabble of future writing projects. What is the difference between old-school typewriting and keyboarding. In a keyboarding class do they still make the students use correct posture, fingers on homerow, how to figure margins and such beginning skills of beginning typists? Do they have Timed writings for speed and accuracy? How many of us who had Typing in school remember when having these one-minute, three-minute or five-minute writings to make sure of proper finger placement, proper posture with feet flat on the floor and the teacher walking up and down the aisle making sure.

The course in typing always started, of course, with learning the keyboard and what size the fonts were whether pica or elite. After learning all the keystrokes, the next skills if I remember right were business letters, the dreaded tabulation exercises, so we could learn basic statistical typing, memorandums and then reports and manuscripts. Every once in a while, the teacher would give us fun activities like typing to music or sheets that the end result would be a picture of sorts just for fun. Who remembers learning how to erase in a typing class without smudging your work. Remember being told about mailable letters usually meant only two corrected mistakes were allowed and if any more the assignment had to be redone.

Do keyboarding classes follow the same format as typing classes of old did? The keyboards are basically the same except for the various function keys that are presented on the computer. Does the teacher introduce those keys like the typing teacher introduced the use of the symbol keys above the number row on an old typewriter? Bet they have no need how to show how to make carbon copies except which function key to perform this procedure. I guess the old tabulation problems in an old typing course could have been good practice for the future Excel programs and for all those typewritten manuscripts, memorandums and reports that is where all those word processing programs come into being.

Whoever remembers those old typing courses and those who learned Keyboarding please share your thoughts and feelings. Which do you prefer an old manual, electric or electronic typewriter or the wonderful computer? At times I do miss the clickity-clack of a manual or even an old IBM Selectric typewriter. There was just something kind of soothing or even musical about that sound that one made when typing whatever.