UltraKey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning Review

My children are all self-taught typists so there was no formal education that taught them the proper way to place their finger on a keyboard or the correct posture required to achieve optimal results. My review of the UltraKey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning provided a program that allowed for concise, clear instruction supported by voice-supported instruction with animation and videos. Bytes of Learning utilizes technology by developing and publishing multimedia software tools and material to help teach people of all ages. Another feature that caught my attention was the ability to have an interface that allows me to control what my students (aka children) will learn. The program itself is equipped with unlimited administration as well as school and class manager sizes so whether you need it for a single child or many, it's an ideal product to try.

The Ultrakey Online Family Subscription is an affordable choice for most families with options ranging from 3 user, 5 user or an 8 user priced from $30 to $50 for a year. It truly is an all family program for use by adults or children.

Getting Started:

• Setting up the UltraKey Online Family Subscription was easy and after I registered, I was able to start by familiarizing myself with the Bytes of Learning program. After I read the overview, I started enrolling my students which was very intuitive and easy. Next, I had my first child start using the program. 
• The "Go to my Instruction" option provides the student everything they need to begin their lessons. It might feel overwhelming for them at first as there is a lot of information in front of them which is why it's important for the parent or teacher to review the program to provide the initial foundation of what is expected of the student. It is very easy to use. 
• I suggest starting with the Play Introduction to UltraKey first with the student. Next, the assessment test is a great way to ensure the student is beginning at an appropriate level as well as setting goals (challenge level). The levels can always be adjusted and it will teach the student proper posture and correct striking technique by finger placement.
• Lesson and skill check modules are the main part of the program. The students learn from first practicing isolated keystrokes. They then move to letter chains, then letter pairs, then words and finally, sentences. The end of assignment skill checks ensures the student is meeting their own goals. There are even 3-D model of stretching techniques.
• There are buttons at the top that provide additional resources for the students such as posture reminders, finger placements and they can access the lessons, skill checks and much more!
• The Left Buttons also provide further resources for the students such as setting their goals, settings, learning, reports and more.

Practice and Learning Time:

My first student, aged 14, started her first lesson and didn't have any issues with the program. It will take a little time since she has never had formal keyboarding lessons but that is part of learning something new. The best part of the program, for my schedule, is most of it is very user friendly and doesn't require me to sit side by side throughout the entire lesson. She was able to navigate through it completely on her own after I walked her through the introductory information and explained the features of the site.

My second student, aged 10, is not always cooperative when it comes to learning something that does not interest her. She's adamant that she knows how to type the way she likes so having her sit down to try out the program with little resistance was a win for me. She took the assessment test and completed the first lesson with no fuss. She explained it was hard for her as she couldn't see the letters as she typed which I had to explain the purpose of learning how to keyboard properly. I was able to convince her that by learning proper keyboarding, it would allow her to write more stories and accomplish more tasks that she sets her mind to. She was a little confused since in Lesson 1, capital letters were intermixed in the lesson before being introduced at a later lesson. 

NOTE:  It was explained to me that the UltraKey Online program presents sentences and paragraphs with upper and lower case throughout the program to model correct punctuation which makes absolute sense and I'm glad they do that!  Until the shift key is taught at lesson six, the student will receive the correct number regardless if they capitalize or not.

After utilizing the program, both students didn't give me a lot of grief as they normally do when they aren't interested in learning a skill. They did understand the fundamental benefit in proper usage of the keyboard, placement of fingers and posture. The continuous reminders to sit properly was a feature I also liked since I am alwasy reminding them to sit straight.

I had my first student complete lesson 1 (shown below) to provide an opportunity to see the ease of use of the program. At the end of the lesson, she took an assessment and was able to see her progress for net speed and accuracy which she passed both. There was a recommendation statement to help her increase her speed and accuracy which was nice to help her understand where she could improve. There are 12 lessons that the student will work through to include skill checks. Goals can be changed as well and at the end of the course, the student will receive a certificate!

Overall, I think it's a great program for many reasons. It's very affordable, has flexibility for the number of students one might have, it reinforces keyboarding fundamentals in a non-boring way, it's challenging and having real time progress is motivational for students.  The ease of use and flexibility for children and adults is also an asset to families. I even had my seven year old granddaughter ask to start the program! I would recommend  UltraKey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning. We tried another program last year but this one was unanimously approved as being our new program.

Visit Bytes of Learning on Facebook by clicking here learn more!