Bytes Of Learning - UltraKey Online Family Subscription {TOS REVIEW}

We have tried a lot of online typing programs. My favorite so far is UltraKey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning. It's completely online and doesn't require any downloading which makes it super simple to swap between learners, all you need to do is to change the user name and password and start as a different learner. Saying that Captain has his own laptop. It's old and doesn't have much downloadable memory which is of course another advantage of an online program!


When we first got the program I signed in and set up all the users in my family. Captain and I have been the main users. My hubs is meaning to use it but he's been super busy at work lately. I wanted to use it at the same time as Captain as he is a complete beginner and I have been typing for a long time. This way it has been easy for me to keep an eye on what he has been doing and see his progression.

This program is set up with an administrative account. This account controls all the settings for all other accounts. I decided to just use it as an admin account and still set up a student account for myself but you don't have to. When you sign into your admin account for the first time you get quite a few options. MY DASHBOARD is where you would click to see an overview of the account and set up new learners.

 If are taken to a screen that looks like this; It's pretty easy to enroll your students. It was easy for me to understand how to change the settings. However if you do make yourself another student account you need to remember that it's the admin account that controls all the settings. I forgot this at first and it took me a few minutes to remember. You can change settings for the whole group or just individuals.

If you just sign into a student account then there are just two screens to click on. Clicking on the purple screen takes you to your lessons. The red screen just shows your user name and login name. You can't make any changes to this unless you are logged into the learner account.

If you are ready to start then you would click on the GO TO MY INSTRUCTION link and click!

The program remembers where you were when you logged off and gives you a message and suggestion when you log in.

You can have the account set up two ways. You can lock the program so that you have to start with lesson one and move through each section in turn. This means you have to pass each section and reach each of your goals before moving on. Or you can have the program open. This means that you could skip around the lessons. Captain has his lessons blocked. He can't swap around the lessons. He has to work through and pass them off one at a time. I have my account open, and so I can move around the lessons. This works well for me as I have typed before and just want to improve my accuracy and speed.

The first lesson Captain had was on posture, this is really important especially when you do a lot of typing. Sometimes Captain likes to sit on the sofa, I try and remind him about posture but since he has a laptop he thinks it's fun to work on it like me - normally on the sofa with my feet up!

There is a great informative video that explains how you should sit and have you hands.

Remember unless you change the settings the student will have to go through all the videos etc in order. This could be frustrating for adults. Although you can do lessons without sound I found it beneficial. So if you will be completing this program in a room with other people I would suggest using headphones.

Captain has really impressed himself with this program. His typing skills have improved dramatically and he has gained a lot of confidence.

Captain and I have been really enjoying this program. Once set up, it has been really easy for Captain to work through by himself. I think he would have been too tempted to jump around if I opened the program.

Captain's favorite place of course is the game zone. I actually don't mind him playing in there because he practices other things besides typing. He has to practice putting sentences in the correct order, spelling, missing letters, finishing sentences correctly, rhyming, and capitols.

The lessons are short and to the point. You can practice over and over until you reach your goal and then set a new goal. There are twelve lessons in total the first nine teach you the standard keyboard with the letters and hand placement. The last three lessons introduce numbers. After each lesson you can go to the skills check section and practice. This gives every student enough practice to increase their skills. Captain loves that even when he doesn't make it to passing his goal the report still tells him how he has improved. This gives my nine year old the motivation he needs to keep moving forward with his typing skills.

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Captain loves this program - I know something is a hit when I don't have to remind him to work on it!

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