Typing and deleting text; typing ergonomics

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Does your back or wrist hurt after typing for a long time? Then the problem may be how you sit, not how much you type. Today we will learn how to type and delete text correctly, and how to type in a healthy way.

Let us start typing. First, open a text editor, like Notepad, or a word processor, like LibreOffice Writer or Microsoft Word. You will see a blinking line called the cursor, or insertion point. Whatever you type appears exactly where the cursor is. To type somewhere else, click there with the mouse, or move the cursor with the arrow keys.

Let us learn the keys you use while typing. Letter keys type small letters. Hold Shift and press a letter to type one capital letter, or the upper symbol on a key. Caps Lock turns capitals on for every letter until you press it again. The spacebar puts a space between words. Enter starts a new paragraph. Tab jumps the cursor to the next tab stop, which is useful for indenting.

Now, deleting. Backspace deletes the character to the left of the cursor. Delete removes the character to the right of the cursor. In most word processors, Ctrl+Backspace deletes a whole word on the left. Ctrl+Delete deletes a whole word on the right.

Pause and predict. The word Kwickprep is typed, and the cursor sits just after the letter k at the end of Kwick. You press Backspace once, and then Delete once. What is left? Backspace removes the k on the left, and Delete removes the p on the right. So the word becomes Kwicrep.

To delete many words at once, first select them. Selecting means highlighting the text by dragging the mouse over it. You can also hold Shift and press the arrow keys to select. Then press Delete or Backspace, and the whole selection disappears. If you delete something by mistake, press Ctrl+Z to undo it.

There are two ways new text can enter a line. In insert mode, which is normal, new text pushes the old text to the right. In overtype mode, new text types over the old text and replaces it. In some programs the Insert key switches between them, so if your letters are disappearing, check this key.

Now, the second part of today. Ergonomics means arranging your work place and habits to suit your body, so you work comfortably and safely. Bad posture, which means the way you sit, can cause back and neck pain. Bending your wrists for hours can hurt your hands and fingers. Staring at a screen too long strains your eyes.

Here is how to sit while typing. Sit up straight, with your back supported by the chair. Keep your feet flat on the floor, or on a footrest if they do not reach. Your elbows should bend at about a right angle, which is ninety degrees. Keep your shoulders relaxed and do not lift them towards your ears.

Now your hands and eyes. Keep your wrists straight and let your fingers curve gently over the keys. Place the monitor so the top of the screen is at or slightly below eye level. Keep the screen about an arm's length away from your eyes. Use good lighting, and avoid glare, which is shiny reflected light on the screen.

Breaks are part of ergonomics too. Follow the twenty twenty twenty rule. Every twenty minutes, look at something twenty feet away for twenty seconds. Stand up and stretch your arms, neck and back about every hour. Blink often, because we blink less while looking at screens, and the eyes become dry.

Let us check some habits. Typing with bent wrists is wrong. Keeping your feet flat on the floor is right. Keeping the screen very close to your face is wrong. Taking a short break every hour is right.

Let us revise what we learned today. Text appears where the blinking cursor is. Backspace deletes to the left and Delete deletes to the right. To remove a lot of text, select it and delete it, and use Ctrl+Z to undo. Sit straight with feet flat and wrists straight. Keep the screen at eye level and follow the twenty twenty twenty rule. Check your own sitting position the next time you type.