Many kids truly enjoy online gaming, competition, auto races, and interacting with peers.
Curriculum
Nitro Type (Improve Typing Skills)
Many kids truly enjoy online gaming, competition, auto races, and interacting with peers.
Putting these elements together into a program designed to improve typing skills – speed and accuracy – is where Nitro Type races onto the scene.
Education resources
What is Nitro Type?
Nitro Type (improve typing skills) is recommended for learners in 3rd grade and up. It uses game-based learning and playful instructional design components in a multiplayer car racing game. Both typing speed and typing accuracy are recorded and applied to car speed. The key to victory in a race is being the fastest and most accurate typist in the group of cars rounding the track.
Users can create an account independently if they are 13 years or older or get parent/caretaker approval to make an account if they are younger. Playing Nitro Type is free for players, and they can also purchase a “Gold Member” account, which is $9.99 – a one-time payment that gives users a lifetime membership. The Gold advantages are:
- $5,000,000 in the game (to purchase or customize cars and more)
- No advertisements
- Forums membership
- Discounts
- Official sponsor icon
- Exclusive achievements
- Exclusive early access to new features
For teachers who advise their students to use Nitro Type at home or use it in the classroom, the site features a Teacher Portal. This free component includes:
- Feature controls
- Game timers
- Real-time status
- Custom reports
- Custom class page
- Race set-ups for classmates
The program is a real crowd-pleaser among a large array of students and at several grade levels, so teachers enjoy seeing these students’ enthusiasm.
Nitro Type racers
When new learners first sign in, they get a basic vehicle to race as they type. The vehicle is matched up with other players who will be on track. When the race starts, the players type the words they see displayed on the screen, and the cars accelerate. Speed and accuracy work to move the car faster and faster.
Accurate typing boosts the car quite a bit, which trains the typists to ensure they are not just going for speed and to take care to type the words correctly. Players earn nitros and cash for winning and can use this to purchase new cars. New models are unlocked with different levels. Gold players must win races to earn certain cars and cannot simply bypass some of these steps.
Users can create racing teams. This feature is popular with educators who use Nitro Type. They can let students have fun with this and put similarly skilled student racers together to help push each other for improvements without being overwhelmed by those on different levels of ability.
There are chat functions within the program. Players enjoy sending each other pre-formed responses during racers and commenting on site news. The posting and chatting features are regularly monitored by Nitro Type consultants to ensure privacy and appropriateness.
Make typing fun
Nitro Type is very popular among gamers and typing enthusiasts, and even those who have not engaged much in either before. Many children find it enthralling to engage in the races and try to compete against their personal bests.
For students who have tried traditional, single-user typing games, many find this multiplayer option a thrilling change. Racers specifically enjoy racing their friends and classmates. They brush up on typing skills while competing and playing – a welcome concept for many ages.
Racer compatibility
One of the highlighted features that parents and teachers approve of is the program’s ability to pair or group typists who are similar in ability. Students worldwide with similar typing speed and accuracy levels can compete and grow in skills together.
The Words Per Minute (WPM) is determined at the beginning with an initial diagnostic test race, which acts as a diagnostic tool to see where to place the typist in terms of race groups.
Nitro Type is an excellent tool and practice application for typing and keyboarding skills. The game-based design model is very appealing to students in nearly any grade. Give it a try on the Nitro Type site, and see how fun it is to race the track while typing as fast – and as accurately – as possible.
