Typing, Basic Research, and Online Communication

What Will You Learn?

• Mechanical Mastery as a Foundation: The course begins with an intense focus on touch typing, establishing proper posture, muscle memory, and accuracy. This isn't just about speed; it's about developing an unconscious, reliable skill that frees cognitive load for higher-order tasks like research and composition. Stamina and error reduction are emphasized throughout.
• The Research → Communication Pipeline: The curriculum is structured as a practical workflow. Skills are not taught in isolation. Students learn to efficiently find and evaluate information (Weeks 2-4) and then directly apply that knowledge to craft professional written communications (Weeks 5-8). The capstone integrates this entire pipeline, simulating a real client project.
• AI as a Strategic Partner, Not a Crutch: A unique and modern thread throughout the course is the intentional, ethical use of AI. Students learn to use AI for specific tasks: generating practice material, refining search queries, suggesting templates, and polishing drafts. Critically, they also learn its limits—fact-checking AI outputs, avoiding hallucinations, and maintaining their own voice and critical thinking.
• Professionalism & Digital Credibility: Beyond mechanics, the course instills professional tone, structure, and etiquette across platforms (email, chat). It emphasizes how typos erode trust, how clear communication prevents missteps, and how to manage difficult conversations. The focus is on building a credible online presence.
• Practical Application & Portfolio Building: Every week culminates in a project that mirrors real-world tasks: a typed research brief, a client pitch email, a simulated chat thread. The final output is a compiled portfolio of the student's best work, ready to showcase to potential clients or employers, demonstrating concrete competency.
• Speed + Accuracy + Critical Thinking: The ultimate goal is fluency. This is defined as the combination of fast, accurate typing with the ability to quickly find, verify, and synthesize information, and then communicate it clearly. The course develops this triad of skills in parallel, making the student a more effective and efficient digital worker.