The Settings area within the Administrator console lets you change the appearance and functionality of TTRS for yourself and your students.
Changing settings for all student users
By logging into your TTRS administrator console and selecting the Students tab in the Settings section, any changes you make will be applied universally to all new student accounts.
Any changes that you wish to apply for individual students need to be made from within the user console of that student.
Some of the Settings have question marks next to them. These briefly explain what the setting is and how it works. Hover over the question mark to view the explanation.
The Settings screen is divided into sections for general, appearance, typing, audio and correction settings.
General settings
Unlock all levels for all students - Default OFF
When a student first begins TTRS, they are directed to begin with Module 1, Level 1. They must complete each module in order to access the next one. By turning this setting off, you can allow them to move around in the course and access different modules in a level or different levels in order to practice specific content.
Weekly goal
You can set a weekly goal for your students of how many modules you'd like them to complete. An average module takes about 5 minutes to complete. However, modules can take longer in the beginning when students are still getting used to the hand positions.
*Enable free writing - Default ON
When a student first opens the program, they are greeted by a welcome screen. From this screen they may choose to begin a typing lesson or start a free writing composition where they can use their typing skills to produce original text. Admins can then view a student's written work and leave feedback. Toggling this switch will disable free writing so students are restricted to typing exercises only.
Show trophy achievements on statistics page - Default ON
When a student has completed a level, a trophy appears under their “My Stats” page. This can be turned off here.
Show WPM score in module completion window - Default OFF
If this option is enabled, students will see their WPM (words per minute) score in the module completion window after each module. This is turned off by default so the student can focus on their accuracy instead of speed in the beginning. To bring their attention back to typing skills, toggle this switch on.
Show score in the module completion window - Default ON
If this option is enabled, students will see their accuracy score in the module completion window. If this is disabled, they will see a checkmark icon instead. Some students may prefer not to see their score.
Show graph in module completion window - Default ON
If this option is enabled, students will see a graph with statistics for all completed modules in a level. If it’s turned off, they will see a compact version of the window without the graph. Some students may prefer not to see a graph or score.
*Note, "Free Writing" is available for Home, Homeschool and Premium level Education Subscriptions only
Typing settings
Hand guides
When a student first starts learning how to type, it's important that they master the home row position and understand which fingers are used to type which keys. The hand guides are a set of visual guides which appear at the bottom of a student's screen when they are inside a TTRS module. They show the student how to type the lines that appear on the screen above. When a student has completed Level 3 of the TTRS Main Course, we recommend turning the hand guides off so the student can fully apply what they have learned. There are several options you can select. If you student isn't quite ready to type on their own, you can select moving hands but remove the letter key names from the screen. You can also choose to enlarge the text area and remove the keyboard altogether.
Remember and Repeat
Remember and Repeat is a feature based on a popular classroom spelling strategy that has students read a word, cover it, write it down, then check to see how they did. It works by getting them to enhance their short term memory processing so they can hold an image of the word for longer amounts of time. When this is switched on, students see a word and type it, then it disappears and they must type it again from memory. It’s useful if you want learners to pay particular attention to spelling for a certain module.
Copy Typing
Copy Typing is when there’s a line of text above and they copy it on a line below. When it’s off, they’ll be overtyping a word on one line. When it’s on, they have one line of text above and they are typing on the line below.
Audio settings
Voice options
Be aware that selecting a USA voice will trigger word lists which use US spelling and, similarly, selecting a UK voice will trigger words using UK spelling.
There are four UK voices, three US voices and two AU voices to choose from. If you see * next to a name, it means it's a computer-generated voice.
Training
When this is turned on, students will hear a voice explaining typing hand position and basic instructions in the first eight modules.
Correction settings
Announce backspace key
When this is turned on, the backspace key will be announced every time a student makes a mistake. This can be demotivating and frustrating for some users, especially those who struggle with fine motor skills and/or auditory processing difficulties.
As the backspace key is also indicated by the on-screen hand guides, you can try turning this setting off to see if it is less distracting for your student.
One mistake option
When the one mistake option is enabled, a user must correct any mistakes before moving on. To ensure accuracy in spelling and typing, we recommend leaving this setting on. When the one mistake option is disabled, users can make mistakes while typing and still complete a module. However, keys that were typed incorrectly will not be shown on screen.
Note, turning this setting off can cause an extended key press to register as multiple letters and spelling mistakes. This is a common issue for beginner typists and individuals who struggle with fine motor skills. Keep this setting on to prevent the keyboard from over-responding in this way.
Further support
If you are unsure about any settings after viewing these tips, please contact the TTRS support team. You may also like to sign up for one of our free training webinars to learn more about different settings.