Keybr.com lets you practice your typing online. You don't need to download anything and it's free. There is some unobtrusive advertising. There are no games. No fancy pictures. Just a keyboard and the words to be typed.
Good resource you could point your students towards if they need to bring their speed and/or accuracy up. The words generated are all gibberish but I used it for about a half hour and it seemed to work fine. The program did seem to get a little sluggish when my speed got up in the 50 plus words per minute range. My relaxed typing speed is around 35 wpm and it didn't have any problem keeping up at that pace.
One of the things I noticed while teaching keyboarding skills at the middle level was that when kids used the typing games, they played to win the game, not improve their speed or accuracy. When I worked my students with instructor led drill and practice they seemed to do improve faster. I like a lot of the programs but I just don't think most of my kids really wanted to get faster. They just wanted to play the game. Just a thought for those of you getting ready to teach typing skills to younger kids.
Reading through the site forum, there is a warning that the keys may not map correctly for this keyboard image if you are using a Mac. I do use a Mac but didn't notice any problem. Granted, I rarely look at the keyboard or the diagram thanks to a typing teacher fresh from Texas who walked around with a ruler and a very commanding voice. I was sixteen years old and did whatever that woman told me to, including not looking at my hands.
[Story Source: Lifehacker: Kevin Purdy: Practice and Improve Touchtyping at Keybr.com]
[Image: Captured from www.keybr.com]
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