Session 2: Keyboard & Mouse

There are only five things a mouse does, and every interaction on a computer is built from them. Left click selects — one press, once. Double click opens — two quick presses on the same spot, used for desktop icons and files; if it opens nothing, you are probably clicking too slowly, and the speed is adjustable in Control Panel → Mouse. Right click opens the context menu, which is the most under-used action in computing: it offers exactly the actions available for the thing you clicked, and it is almost always faster than finding the same command in a menu. Drag and drop moves or selects — press and hold, move, release; dragging across empty space draws a selection box. Scroll moves through content, with the wheel or by two-finger swipe on a touchpad.

Two habits matter more than any of these. First, use the right click constantly — it is the fastest route to rename, copy, paste, delete, open with and properties. Second, look at the cursor, because it tells you what will happen: an arrow means select, an I-beam means you can place text there, a hand means it is clickable, and a spinning circle means the machine is busy and you should wait rather than click again.

The main letter and number keys are the QWERTY block, named for its top-left letters — a layout designed in the 1870s for typewriters and kept ever since for familiarity. Above it are the function keys F1 to F12, whose meaning changes per program but which include near-universal assignments: F1 is help, F2 renames a selected file, F5 refreshes, F12 in Word is Save As. The number pad on the right is for fast numeric entry and is disabled when Num Lock is off — a common source of confusion when number keys suddenly type arrows instead.

Then the editing keys, which most beginners never use and which save enormous time. Enter confirms or starts a new line. Backspace deletes backwards, Delete deletes forwards — knowing the difference matters when you are editing rather than rewriting. The arrow keys move one character or line at a time. Home jumps to the start of a line, End to the end. Page Up and Page Down move a screenful. Tab jumps between fields in a form, which is why filling a form with Tab and Shift+Tab is several times faster than reaching for the mouse.

A modifier key does nothing alone; it changes what another key does. Shift produces capitals and the upper symbol on a key — press Shift+2 for the at sign, Shift+3 for the naira or hash symbol depending on your layout. Caps Lock locks capitals on permanently, and the single most common beginner typing error is forgetting it is on; look at the Caps Lock indicator light before you conclude the keyboard is broken. Ctrl is the command modifier and produces nearly every shortcut: Ctrl+C copy, Ctrl+V paste, Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+Z undo, Ctrl+A select all, Ctrl+F find, Ctrl+P print, Ctrl+W close.

Alt is the alternative command modifier — Alt+Tab switches programs, Alt+F4 closes the current program, Alt+Enter shows properties. The Windows key opens the Start menu alone and produces system shortcuts in combination: Windows+D shows the desktop, Windows+E opens File Explorer, Windows+L locks the screen immediately (use this every time you stand up from a shared machine), Windows+Shift+S takes a screenshot of a region you choose.

The pattern to internalise is that Ctrl+Shift reverses or extends the plain Ctrl version: Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes, Ctrl+Shift+T reopens a closed browser tab, and holding Shift while clicking or using arrow keys extends a selection. Once you see that, you can guess most shortcuts correctly instead of memorising them one by one.

Correct typing is a hand-position discipline, not a speed effort. Rest your left hand with fingers on A S D F and your right on J K L ; — those are the home row keys, and F and J each have a small raised bump precisely so you can find them by touch without looking. Each finger owns a diagonal column of keys: the left little finger takes A, Q, Z and the modifiers; the left index reaches R, T, G, B and V as well as F; and the mirror image applies on the right. Thumbs rest on the spacebar.

The reason this matters is arithmetic, not pedantry. Hunting with two fingers means your eyes leave the screen on every keystroke, so your speed is limited by how fast you can find keys and your accuracy drops because you are not watching what you type. Touch typing keeps your eyes on the text, so errors are visible as you make them. Two weeks of correct practice beats two years of hunting, and the uncomfortable truth is that self-taught hunters rarely fix it later because the wrong habit feels faster than the right one while you are relearning.

Expect to be slower for the first few days. That is normal and it passes. Do not abandon the position because hunting feels quicker today — it is a ceiling you will hit within a month, whereas correct placement keeps improving for as long as you practise.

Improvement comes from short, frequent, accurate practice — not from long frustrated sessions. Fifteen minutes a day beats two hours once a week, because the skill is motor memory and motor memory consolidates with repetition and sleep. Always practise accuracy first: hitting the right key slowly builds speed, whereas practising fast and wrong builds a habit you must later unlearn.

Use a structured trainer rather than random typing. Free options that work well include typingclub.com, keybr.com and 10fastfingers.com — all run in a browser and need no installation. Work through the home row first, then the rows above and below, then capitals and punctuation. Do not chase the words-per-minute figure; chase the accuracy percentage, and let speed follow. A useful benchmark: below 95% accuracy you are practising mistakes, so slow down until accuracy recovers.