Lesson 4 FUNDAMENTALS OF KEYBOARDING
Keyboarding
It is the act of entering data into a computer through the use of
a keyboard.
It is commonly done on a QWERTY Keyboard.
Keyboard
It is an input device or tool used to communicate with the
computer. It also allows you to enter into a computer.
NAMES OF THE HUMAN FINGERS
1. Thumb
It is essential for precise hand movement, manipulating
objects and using tools.
It is located at the far left of right of the hand.
2. Index finger LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND
It is the second finger on the hand. L1 - left index finger R1 - right index finger
It is located between the thumb. L2 - left middle finger R2 – right middle finger
L3 - left ring finger R3 - right ring finger
3. Middle finger L4 - left little finger R4 – right little finger
It is the longest finger and provides strength and gripping
and lifting objects.
TYPES OF KEYS ON THE KEYBOARD
4. Ring finger
It is located between the middle finger and the little finger.
5. Little finger
It is also known as “pinky finger.” It is named after the
Dutch word “pinkje,” which means “little finger.”
It is also the smallest finger and it is located at the far right
of the left hand.
1. Alphanumeric Keys Function Keys – it is located as first row from the top, these
- These keys contain letters and numbers on the keyboard. keys are marked as F1 to F12. These are used to perform
These keys are: A-Z for alphabets and 0-9 for numbers. specific task. The functionality of these keys differs from
program to program.
Punctuation keys - the keys used for inserting various
punctuation marks are period (full stop), comma,
Enter Key – it is also called as Return Key. It is used to move
semicolon, brackets, apostrophe, parenthesis etc. Also,
the cursor to the beginning of the next line and give line
it includes all of the mathematical operators such as
spaces. It is also used to begin a process.
the plus sign, minus sign, and equal sign.
Backspace Key - This key deletes the character to the left of
Guide Keys - on a computer keyboard, keys ‘F’ and ‘J’
the cursor.
are called guide keys for left and right hand
respectively. Both contain a small raised tangible mark
Delete (Del) Key - This key deletes the character to the right
with the help of which the touch typist can place the
at the current cursor position or the selected objects.
fingers correctly on the home keys. On a typewriter, the
two keys ‘a’ and ‘(semi-colon) ; ’ are called guide keys
Shift Keys - There are two shift keys provided on both sides
which are depressed with left and right hand little finger
of the keyboard for typing capital letters and upper case signs.
respectively.
Caps Lock key - It makes all letters capital until you turn it off.
2. Special keys
- These are set of keys used to do a specific function in the Space Bar key – The space bar is the is a long horizontal key
keyboard. All of them are distributed in the keyboard. on the lower edge of a keyboard. It creates an empty space
Understanding the keyboard also means learning the also known as “space character” or “white space” that helps
special functions of certain keys. Commonly used special separate words and other character in a sentence.
keys are the following:
Esc Key - It means Escape which is used to exit, cancel (or
Alt Keys - The full form of Alt is Alternate. It is used like a escape) from programs and tasks and send special codes to
control key. It is a modifier key that performs a special different devices.
operation when pressed in conjunction with another key or
keys. Num Lock Key – It enables and disables the numeric pad.
Turning on the Num Lock Key allows you to use the n umbers
Tab Key - it is used to indent paragraphs or move from one on the keypad.
text field to another.
Ctrl Key - The full form of Ctrl is Control. This key is used in
Example: You press Ctrl+Alt+Del simultaneously when you combination with other keys.
want to get out of computer as the application on which you
are working is held up or muddled up.
Arrow Keys - There are normally four arrow keys to move the
cursor - up, down, right or left.
Redo Undone Ctrl Y
action
BASIC CONTROL KEYS
Icon Name Function Shortcut
New Blank Opens a Ctrl N Close Closes the Ctrl W
Document document currently
active
documents or
windows
Open Opens an Ctrl O 3. Numeric Keypad
existing - It is used when enormous numeric data is to be entered.
document This keypad, just like a simple calculator, is normally
located on the right hand side of computer keyboard. It
Save Saves the Ctrl S contains numbers 0 to 9, addition (+), subtraction (–),
active multiplication (*) and division (/) symbols, a decimal point
document (.) and NumLock and Enter keys.
Cut Removes the Ctrl X DIFFERENT ROWS ON THE KEYBOARD
1. Top row or the Q‐W‐E‐R‐T‐Y row.
selected text
and graphics
It is located above the home row and consists of ten (10) letter
Copy Copies the Ctrl C keys.
selected text It is also known as the QWERTY row, which refers to the five (5)
and graphics top row keys on the left-hand side of the keyboard.
The left hand controls QWERTY letters, the right hand serves
Inserts the Ctrl V the YUIOP letters.
Paste cut or copied
texts or
graphics at
the insertion
point
Undo Reverses the Ctrl Z
last action
A‐S‐D‐F keys for the left hand, and the J‐K‐L‐; keys for the right
The left index finger will control the R and T keys, the right When at rest, the typist's fingers are positioned, lightly, on the
index finger will control the Y and U keys.
hand.
The left middle finger will control the E key, the right middle
finger will control the I key. The left index finger will control the F and G keys, the right
index finger will control the J and H keys.
The left ring finger will control the W key, the right ring
finger will control the O key. The left middle finger will control the D key, the right middle
finger will control the K key.
The left little finger will control the Q key, the right little
finger will control the P key. The left ring finger will control the S key; the right ring finger will
control the L key.
LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND
L1 - left index finger R&T R1 - right index finger Y&U The left little finger will control the A key, the right little finger
L2 - left middle E R2 – right middle finger I will control the semicolon (;) key.
finger
L3 - left ring finger W R3 - right ring finger O The spacebar is controlled by the right thumb.
L4 - left little finger Q R4 – right little finger P
LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND
L1 - left index finger F R1 - right index finger J
2. Second Row or the Home Row L2 - left middle finger D R2 – right middle finger K
The keyboard learning process starts from the second row
L3 - left ring finger S R3 - right ring finger L
Home Row. In the Home Row Approach also called
L4 - left little finger A R4 – right little finger ;
Horizontal Approach, all the eight (8) fingers of both the
hands rest on Home Keys during the course of the keyboard
operation. The home row keys are the row keys on the 3. The Bottom Row Keys
computer keyboard our fingers rest on when not typing. We
have to put our fingers to the home row keys four our left-
hand are A, S, D and F and our right hand are J, K, L and ;
(semicolon). For both hands, the thumbs rest on the space
bar.
The left index finger will control the V and B keys, and the
right index finger will control the N and M keys.
The left middle finger will control the C key, and the right
middle finger will control the , (comma) key.
The left ring finger will control the X key, and the right ring
finger will control the . (period) key.
The left little finger will control the Z key, and the right little
finger will control the / key.
The left shift key is controlled by the left little finger and the
right shift key is controlled by the right little finger
LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND
L1 - left index finger V&B R1 - right index finger N&M
L2 - left middle finger C R2 – right middle finger ,
L3 - left ring finger X R3 - right ring finger .
L4 - left little finger Z R4 – right little finger /
REMEMBER:
THE THREE (3) GOLDEN RULES OF GAINING
MASTERY OF KEYBOARD
PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND PRACTICE
TARGETS:
Midterm – 40 wpm
Finals – 50 wpm
