Long live Mavis Beacon. 

If you're unfamiliar with the name, she was the not-entirely-real icon behind classroom software that taught generations of students touch typing. Beacon was a celebrity of early digital literacy, with generations of learners collectively misremembering her as a real-life elite typer — not just a made-up name attached to the likeness of model Renée L'Esperance. 

Still, Beacon became an avatar for the digital dreams of the pre-Y2K generation. The software, full name "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing," was an entry point to the world of technology for thousands of children who would later grow into a computer-skilled workforce. Before entering the rat race, though, these students would be required to attend "Computer Lab," where they would visit typing.com to compete for the highest WPM ("words per minute"). 

Now, most kids don't go to a computer lab. They boot up their personal Chromebooks at their desks, log onto their school's assignment portal, complete their tasks with help from AI, and go back to their phones or iPads. 

Concern about technology's impact on student learning has reached a critical level. A recent longitudinal study of students aged 7 to 16 found that early adoption of social media negatively impacted kids' learning outcomes. Child development researchers and safety advocates have called for an end to screen time in classrooms as literacy rates decline. Generative AI is sending everyone spinning. 

But the kids are still learning. They're just not learning the same things their parents did — especially about computers.

WPM? More like words per hour

Mavis Beacon's memory may live on, but touch typing — or being able to type using just sightless motor memory — has turned into a dying art. A 2024 EdWeek Research Center survey found that just 69 percent of districts teach "keyboarding" in a formal capacity, whether that's directly in curriculum or as a separate, elective course. 

The more affluent the school system, the earlier they introduce keyboarding skills, the survey found.

What those classes are actually teaching is even more of a mystery. Other than surveys, there is little publicly available data on typing proficiency across the country. Directed touch-type curriculum seems to be rare. 

The basic skill is often relegated to app-based tools built into classroom devices. Tech-focused lesson plans available online devote less time to basics and more to mastering advanced computer skills and personalized tools like AI assistants. 

A problem as old as computers 

The shift from basics is not necessarily a new trend. Proper typing became a commonly used benchmark in schools as early as the late '90s, but by 2004, typing classes were already on their way out, according to a 2004 Department of Education study quoted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Search "touch typing op-eds," and you will find dozens of complaints that students don't know how to put hands to keys. 

In a 2011 MIT Technology Review article, for example, Oberlin College professor Annie Trubek criticized a rise in "idiosyncratic, personalized hunt-and-peck" typing among younger generations. "Ironically, in our era of keyboard ubiquity, typing has fallen out of the curriculum," wrote Trubek. "Since most students come to school familiar with keyboards, including cell phone keypads, educators are letting the ad hoc habits of six-year old computer gamers stand." 

A 2015 Wall Street Journal article reported a rising demand for keyboarding classes as digital testing became prevalent under new Common Core State Standards — and teachers realized many kids didn't know how to type. 

States tiptoe around typing

As newer, faster, more complex technologies enter the world of education, more teachers are calling on their districts to institute basic computer skill requirements like keyboarding long before they have to engage with something like machine learning. 

As of 2025, Utah was one of just a few states that still listed motor typing skills — like proper hand placement — as part of their state standard curriculum. When the state's Board of Education implemented such specific K-5 keyboarding proficiency standards, they deemed them a "critical literacy skill." 

But Utah could be changing things soon. In a statement to Mashable, state education officials declined to comment on the implementation of keyboarding standards, citing recent legislation. In March, the state passed an amendment to its digital skills curriculum mandating a "modernization" of the standards, including an emphasis on news and media literacy.

While California includes keyboard proficiency in its Common Core standards, a Department of Education spokesperson told Mashable that the state does not "test or measure" the skill at a state level. Schools do not receive a curriculum framework or additional instructional materials beyond what is included in the 2015 Computer Science Standards, the spokesperson explained. 

And similar to Utah, California is set to revamp its tech standards soon, aligned with Governor Gavin Newsom's new executive order on AI in schools. A department spokesperson explained the state's current standards. Where there was once basic computer science, there is now "AI literacy."  

Hitting Ctrl X on Ctrl C 

The keyboard may prove to be a key (pun intended) learning gap for many students whose tech skills are borne from touchscreen devices, like smartphones and iPads.

Complaints about students not knowing basic shortcuts — including classic short keys such as "Ctrl C" for copy and "Ctrl V" for paste — abound on online forums and subreddits r/Teachers and r/AskTeachers. 

"One student was completely blown away when I 'magically' got his suddenl

Long live Mavis Beacon. 

If you're unfamiliar with the name, she was the not-entirely-real icon behind classroom software that taught generations of students touch typing. Beacon was a celebrity of early digital literacy, with generations of learners collectively misremembering her as a real-life elite typer — not just a made-up name attached to the likeness of model Renée L'Esperance. 

Still, Beacon became an avatar for the digital dreams of the pre-Y2K generation. The software, full name "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing," was an entry point to the world of technology for thousands of children who would later grow into a computer-skilled workforce. Before entering the rat race, though, these students would be required to attend "Computer Lab," where they would visit typing.com to compete for the highest WPM ("words per minute"). 

Now, most kids don't go to a computer lab. They boot up their personal Chromebooks at their desks, log onto their school's assignment portal, complete their tasks with help from AI, and go back to their phones or iPads. 

Concern about technology's impact on student learning has reached a critical level. A recent longitudinal study of students aged 7 to 16 found that early adoption of social media negatively impacted kids' learning outcomes. Child development researchers and safety advocates have called for an end to screen time in classrooms as literacy rates decline. Generative AI is sending everyone spinning. 

But the kids are still learning. They're just not learning the same things their parents did — especially about computers.

WPM? More like words per hour

Mavis Beacon's memory may live on, but touch typing — or being able to type using just sightless motor memory — has turned into a dying art. A 2024 EdWeek Research Center survey found that just 69 percent of districts teach "keyboarding" in a formal capacity, whether that's directly in curriculum or as a separate, elective course. 

The more affluent the school system, the earlier they introduce keyboarding skills, the survey found.

What those classes are actually teaching is even more of a mystery. Other than surveys, there is little publicly available data on typing proficiency across the country. Directed touch-type curriculum seems to be rare. 

The basic skill is often relegated to app-based tools built into classroom devices. Tech-focused lesson plans available online devote less time to basics and more to mastering advanced computer skills and personalized tools like AI assistants. 

A problem as old as computers 

The shift from basics is not necessarily a new trend. Proper typing became a commonly used benchmark in schools as early as the late '90s, but by 2004, typing classes were already on their way out, according to a 2004 Department of Education study quoted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Search "touch typing op-eds," and you will find dozens of complaints that students don't know how to put hands to keys. 

In a 2011 MIT Technology Review article, for example, Oberlin College professor Annie Trubek criticized a rise in "idiosyncratic, personalized hunt-and-peck" typing among younger generations. "Ironically, in our era of keyboard ubiquity, typing has fallen out of the curriculum," wrote Trubek. "Since most students come to school familiar with keyboards, including cell phone keypads, educators are letting the ad hoc habits of six-year old computer gamers stand." 

A 2015 Wall Street Journal article reported a rising demand for keyboarding classes as digital testing became prevalent under new Common Core State Standards — and teachers realized many kids didn't know how to type. 

States tiptoe around typing

As newer, faster, more complex technologies enter the world of education, more teachers are calling on their districts to institute basic computer skill requirements like keyboarding long before they have to engage with something like machine learning. 

As of 2025, Utah was one of just a few states that still listed motor typing skills — like proper hand placement — as part of their state standard curriculum. When the state's Board of Education implemented such specific K-5 keyboarding proficiency standards, they deemed them a "critical literacy skill." 

But Utah could be changing things soon. In a statement to Mashable, state education officials declined to comment on the implementation of keyboarding standards, citing recent legislation. In March, the state passed an amendment to its digital skills curriculum mandating a "modernization" of the standards, including an emphasis on news and media literacy.

While California includes keyboard proficiency in its Common Core standards, a Department of Education spokesperson told Mashable that the state does not "test or measure" the skill at a state level. Schools do not receive a curriculum framework or additional instructional materials beyond what is included in the 2015 Computer Science Standards, the spokesperson explained. 

And similar to Utah, California is set to revamp its tech standards soon, aligned with Governor Gavin Newsom's new executive order on AI in schools. A department spokesperson explained the state's current standards. Where there was once basic computer science, there is now "AI literacy."  

Hitting Ctrl X on Ctrl C 

The keyboard may prove to be a key (pun intended) learning gap for many students whose tech skills are borne from touchscreen devices, like smartphones and iPads.

Complaints about students not knowing basic shortcuts — including classic short keys such as "Ctrl C" for copy and "Ctrl V" for paste — abound on online forums and subreddits r/Teachers and r/AskTeachers. 

"One student was completely blown away when I 'magically' got his suddenl