Typing Pal Features — Home Edition

Typing Pal’s Home Edition offers the same tried-and-true method as the School Edition, used by thousands of schools worldwide. You can even follow your child’s progress just like a teacher would! Discover all the features this effective and comprehensive program has to offer.

More than 700 Training Activities

  • Close to 100 exercises to learn how to type using all your fingers.
  • A smart algorithm that creates customized activities by targeting the keys or fingers that need improvement in terms of speed or accuracy.
  • Thirty exercises to develop reflexes by typing frequent character sequences such as the -ness, -ing, or -ion that form the endings of many words.
  • Three collections of over 200 training texts offering content adapted to age groups 6–11 years, 12–16 years and 17+, including texts focused specifically on number pad use.
  • The option to choose the learning language for the training program (English or French).
  • A video providing advice on ergonomics and information on acquiring good work habits.
  • An initial test that serves as a benchmark for evaluating progress.
  • Formative assessment tests to help improve speed and accuracy.
  • Final tests, often timed, for general assessment of speed and accuracy.

Educational Games

  • Three educational games to have fun while learning to type faster. Each offers a progressively more complex level of keyboard use than the one before: Cosmik Ball for individual characters; Monkeys in Jeopardy for character sequences and words; and Magical Duel for words and phrases.
  • The option to set the difficulty level for Cosmik Ball and Monkeys in Jeopardy for those who want a challenge, and automatic difficulty settings that match the user’s age group in Magical Duel.
  • The option to target specific keys (the top row, numbers, etc.) in Cosmik Ball and Monkeys in Jeopardy.
  • Rankings for all games and the different game modes to encourage users to outdo themselves.

Various Stimulating Sources of Motivation

  • Up to ninety badges to encourage users to persevere and to explore all the application’s features, including 17 mystery badges with clues on how to earn them.
  • Additional limited-edition badges that can only be unlocked by completing challenges within a specific timeframe, to help maintain interest all year long.
  • A notification system that announces when a badge has been obtained.
  • Achievement level, represented as a percentage, based on the number of completed activities and the scores achieved.
  • Personal best indicator.
  • Gold medals awarded when the user beats their personal best in either speed or accuracy for an activity.
  • Personal rankings for each activity that allow the user to view their results history when the activity is completed.
  • Gold stars added to the icon for an activity when it has been completed with a perfect score.
  • Visual feedback during the activity to indicate whether the user’s speed and accuracy are below targets.
  • Optional audio feedback to indicate whether the user has successfully completed or failed an activity.
  • Virtual coaches to guide users in their training by offering targeted recommendations and personalized encouragement.
  • A certificate of achievement attesting that the user has completed the training program.

Simple and Powerful Management Tools

  • Three types of users to facilitate the management of the Home Edition: subscription holder, invited user and supervised user.
  • The option to add additional users throughout the subscription period.
  • The option for the subscription holder to view the activity journal of the other subscription users.
  • The option for the subscription holder to change a supervised user’s password.
  • The option for the subscription holder to delete a supervised user’s account or to remove an invited user from the subscription.

Complete Statistics

  • An overview of results that can be accessed from the user’s Achievements panel with a single click on their avatar.
  • The choice between two units of measure for speed: words per minute or characters per minute.
  • Reports on the accuracy and speed of every finger.
  • Reports on speed and accuracy for keys with the best and worst typing performance.
  • An activity calendar that shows a user’s diligence over the past 12 months.
  • The option to view video replay for every completed activity.
  • Reset options to delete results for all activities or for certain categories of activity: exercises, tests, texts, games or partially completed activities.
  • Options to display the accuracy percentage, the number of mistakes and the speed in real time to the right of the typing area.

Clear and Intuitive Interface

  • A modern and intuitive interface that can be mastered in a few minutes.
  • A home screen that suggests activities to undertake.
  • The choice between 109 avatars from three collections: fun creatures, neutral photos or colourful portraits.
  • The choice between light or dark mode based on your preferences or your system settings.
  • A tool to help users choose the keyboard configuration that corresponds to their keyboard.
  • The choice of four fonts to help users who have trouble distinguishing between characters, such as people with dyslexia.
  • Diagrams in the system settings that display recommended typing speed and accuracy targets for each age group and skill level to help users set goals suited to their abilities.
  • Icons that clearly convey the nature and status of training activities.
  • The option to navigate using the keys and not the mouse, thus maintaining the position of the hands.
  • The option to briefly display the mistyped character when a mistake is made along with an indicator showing the correct character to type.
  • The option to keep track of mistakes in the text with an underscore.
  • A choice of location for the typing area: directly within the displayed text or below it.
  • An animation zone under the typing area that encourages users to look at the screen instead of the keyboard when typing.
  • Options to mask the animation zone or to customize it with entertaining animations or a keyboard viewer.
  • A keyboard viewer that includes animated hands to guide the fingers when hesitation is detected during an exercise.
  • Options to display the elapsed time and progress in real time to the right of the typing area.

Easy Online Access

  • An online application that can be accessed from a compatible device (PC, Mac, Chromebook, iPad) that is connected to the Internet. (See Recommended Configuration.)
  • Four of the most popular sign-on methods: Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple.

Strong Security Measures

  • A privacy policy and practices that meet the highest standards for personal information security. (See Privacy Policy.)
  • Data storage on firewall-protected servers located in a secure environment to prevent unauthorized access.
  • Use of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol to set up an encrypted connection that ensures privacy and the protection of transferred data.
  • Secure methods for password sharing, setup and reset.
  • An indicator that shows the strength of the password chosen.
  • The option to log out of Typing Pal and Google or Microsoft at the same time to avoid leaving a session open.

Rich and Varied Documentation

  • Online user guide with clear and detailed information.
  • Full list of features highlighting the latest functionality.
  • FAQ page for quick answers to the most common questions.
  • Blog with regular tips and Typing Pal news, as well as interesting articles relating to keyboards and typing.
  • Article explaining how to get your child started with Typing Pal.
  • Resource page explaining the correct typing method in detail.
  • Resource page explaining the importance of accuracy, and why it is prioritized over speed in our typing training program.
  • Resource page to help guide target-setting for speed.