Touch typing is a vital skill for all levels in the health sector. Here are some of the reasons why:

• Hand-written notes are being replaced by everything on computer
• GPs need to maintain eye contact with patients whilst capturing accurate notes
• Workload expands into evenings & weekends when notes must be 'typed up later'
• Report writing & emails often require extra time & energy - alongside practical or clinical work

StarTouch helps you build a new typing habit, to replace your old style - without the struggle you might expect.

Benefits of touch typing:

• Type with more accuracy and at a flowing rapid pace
• Type with comfort with your eyes up
• Improve your general health with correct posture management
• Increase efficiency and ability to get more things done in a shorter space of time

OVERVIEW

StarTouch is different... very different.

The StarTouch programme is an innovative & motivational alternative to the traditional approaches for learning to type.

It's the antidote to the mindless drills so common in software courses & night classes, which (if you can 'go the distance') might eventually build the 'muscle memory' you need.

What's different is: we use brain friendly techniques to TRAIN the BRAIN & BODY rather than just TEACHING the HEAD. Think: learning to swing a golf club; play a piano; or sail a windsurfer. ...because typing is a physical human skill, not a set of instructions to memorise and refer to.

Our approach helps drastically short-cut the time it takes the body to establish and embed this important and actually quite straightforward skill. And it also makes the journey easier and much more enjoyable.

When is a 1-day course NOT a 1-day course?

When it's a full training AND coaching programme - 4 weeks minimum.

The programme is kicked off by a power-packed & inspirational face-to-face 1-day workshop which covers everything you need to LEARN - in one surprising, entertaining and unexpectedly effective day. It also introduces you to a carefully designed, phased approach to the PRACTICE, which is essential for consolidating and embedding your learning over the following days and weeks.

But your training programme is not JUST this one day event..

The cost you pay covers follow-up, online resources & practice apps...
...AND on-going email coaching from the trainer for each participant:

You will be invited (encouraged!) to do your practice on the StarTouch website, thus submitting it to your trainer.

And this will mean they can track you every day and get back to you frequently (sometimes daily) with emails containing:

• Congratulations & encouragement! Everyone needs this when trying to pursue a new 'regime' (diet, fitness, and yes: even typing!)
• Analysis of your on-going practice & graphs to clearly show the progress you are making
• Interpretation of your statistics to demonstrate where you're making advances and explain why - AND to show where you may be holding yourself back through poor practice technique
• Coaching advice aplenty: guidance, trajectory adjustment, encouragement to ramp up or redirect your efforts, and where needed, challenge and correction!

This extensive and on-demand coaching continues for at least 4 weeks after the training event.

If you find the coaching helpful you can extend it, on a weekly or monthly basis, for a small extra charge... until you've finished the implementation of your new habit.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the 1-day active, interactive & stimulating learning event...

• You will be practised at consciously sitting correctly, and holding your arms and hands in the best way to minimise muscle strain and the dangers of RSI, and to maximise your dexterity and ‘flow'

• You will be able to type all the alphabet keys & the main punctuation marks with a high degree of accuracy (with the correct fingering) and without looking down.

• You will be fully equipped to pursue a carefully structured practice regime, with determination and confidence after the training day - a regime which is designed to develop the facets of your new skill (such as speed & automation) which can ONLY develop over with frequent, repeated, accurate practice over a period of time.

By the end of the 4 weeks of Coached Practice

• If you pursue your practice path with drive & discipline,
• and submit your practice to StarTouch for the on-demand coaching
• and take on board the advice given to adjust or increase your practice activities
• you will consolidate your skill to the maximum effect in the shortest possible time after the initial learning.

TOPICS COVERED

• Understanding how people build new habits most effectively
• Ensuring the right balance between Accuracy and Speed
• Learning more about learning quickly & memorably
• Learning how to establish a strong “eyes-up” habit from the very start
• Establishing mental and physical ‘knowledge’ of which fingers type which letters/symbols.
• Learning the right movements to make with each finger to find each letter/symbol.
• Grasping how best to reinforce & embed the new skill in the days following the initial workshop.
• Training the body to make the correct connections increasingly quickly & effortlessly
• Adopting the correct posture at a keyboard - to optimise relaxation, alertness and mobility
• Adopting the correct hand/finger position on the keyboard
• Initial drilling the main movements, to start building accurate and precise Finger Control
• Familiarity with exercises & drills to be used after the launch workshop, to strengthen and consolidate the skill – participants will be able to touch type by this point: using correct fingering without looking down, but necessarily slowly!
• Understanding the value of practising (and best ways to achieve practice) 'offline' (ie away from pressure/work) until the new skill is strong: habitual, comfortable and fast.
• Efficient practice path: helped by further guidance on managing your regime, each participant can make the most progress in the shortest time following the training day, including use of inclusive practice resources and tools, and access to on-going remote coaching and encouragement to help drive towards transitioning to touch typing everything, all the time, for the rest of your life!

Testimonials:

“I'm amazed at how quickly I'm improving just by keeping the practices regular and consistent." - Mary Faulkner, NHS (Central & North West London)

"Thought provoking. Very likely to practise!" Evana Cook, Health Sector Administrator

Excellent energy and use of memory aids throughout. David Humphrey, Scientist