| We all know kids love to play whenever | | | | entire class wash their hands before |
| they get the chance. Even some adults | | | | computer work, inevitably for every |
| take time to play now and then. With | | | | twenty kids at least three manage to get |
| touchpad keyboards, kids are discovering | | | | dirt or crumbs stuck in their computer |
| a new way to play. Here are some | | | | mouse. With the touchpad keyboard, those |
| benefits for kids and their caretakers | | | | crumbs are easily visible and simply |
| who use touchpad keyboards: | | | | cleaned. With the traditional rolling |
| "It's like my fingers are dancing!" said | | | | ball mouse, crumbs get stuck up inside |
| Charla, age eight. On her first day of | | | | and are difficult, if not impossible, to |
| class at Mountain View Elementary | | | | remove. Teachers are saving hours of |
| school, she gravitated towards the | | | | cleaning time with touchpad keyboards. |
| computer at her desk place. She had | | | | Whenever school funding is cut, |
| never seen a computer with a touchpad | | | | classrooms get fuller. With thirty kids |
| keyboard before, but she jumped right in | | | | to watch over, Charla's teacher must get |
| and began to experiment with how to use | | | | creative about making space for all of |
| it. Before her teacher had a chance to | | | | thirty kids within a compact room. Desks |
| explain how the touchpad keyboard | | | | are crammed in and make for only a |
| functions, Charla had already grasped | | | | 1.5-foot aisle. The kids' elbows are |
| the concept and was adeptly using the | | | | hitting each other. Luckily, the |
| touchpad keyboard to download music on | | | | touchpad keyboards save some space. |
| to her iPod. So quick is the learning | | | | Eliminating the traditional mouse means |
| curve of the touchpad keyboard for kids. | | | | that each child has an additional ten |
| While Charla felt her fingers were | | | | inches of space. This efficiency is |
| dancing, she did not know that her brain | | | | helping little Charla and other kids to |
| was also stretching into new vistas of | | | | concentrate better and understand the |
| creativity. Studies have shown that | | | | concept of "personal space." |
| children who use touchpad keyboards have | | | | Well-informed adults are taking |
| higher levels of creative expression, | | | | advantage of touchpad keyboards in the |
| due to the dancing/drawing motion of the | | | | home, too. American kids typically spend |
| fingers. The fluid movement is similar | | | | one to two hours on the computer after |
| to painting, which encourages the brain | | | | school, and sometimes more. Parents with |
| to think in non-linear, abstract | | | | touchpad keyboards are noticing that |
| formation. Children who use touchpad | | | | they are saving much time by not digging |
| keyboards are more flexible by nature, | | | | out dirt stuck inside a traditional |
| more creative, and more spontaneous than | | | | mouse. With a quick swipe of the |
| their classmate counterparts who use | | | | touchpad keyboard, all the grime is |
| traditional keyboards. | | | | gone. |
| Little Charla may think touchpad | | | | Studies linking touchpad keyboards to |
| keyboards are all about fun, as the | | | | creativity are just beginning to make |
| school hours speed away, but her teacher | | | | waves in the parent community. Parents |
| knows something else about them. They | | | | and teachers are taking advantage of the |
| are easier to clean than a traditional | | | | cleanliness, efficiency, and creative |
| mouse. Kids are notoriously messy. | | | | effect that touchpad keyboards have. Let |
| Crumbs seem to travel with them in a | | | | your kids join the dance of touchpad |
| trail that could reach around the world. | | | | keyboards. It is good for them and you. |
| Teachers know that despite having the | | | | |