Abstract:
Many children do not find it easy to write. They may have difficulty with finding ideas, with sentence structure and/or with the mechanics of writing. The demands of using correct structure in functional writing, considered to be the most important form of writing for children to learn, make these texts even more difficult to create. The use of a concept keyboard as an alternative input device for word processor use, has the potential to help children better structure their writing. This paper describes a research project to investigate the effectiveness of young children using a concept keyboard to assist in creating functional texts.