Feeling stuck or just have a question? Here’s a list of some of the most common questions users have:
Games:
Q. How do I disable or enable games?
A. Select the student or group of students you’d like to disable or enable games for. From here, navigate to “Accommodations” on the right side pane window. Select the “Games” tab, and you will see the option to disable, enable or set certain games for the students you’ve selected. To enable games, you’ll need to select the games you’d like to enable as well as checking the “enable” button itself.
Q. I’ve enabled Gritcoins, but how much game time does a student get?
A. The correlation is linear - one gritcoin = one minute of game time. Games are purchased in bundles of 10 minutes or 10 Gritcoins.
Accommodations:
Q. Why aren’t my accommodations sticking?
A. This is a bit of a niche - when you select all students, only the defaults you have established will show. The program does not display custom changes made to individual students within that block but you will see a red asterisk beside the student's name. This alerts you that an accommodation has been made for that student. Select a specific student who has had changes made and you will see the modifications you have modified.
Q. How do I disable the Leaderboard?
A. Navigate to your class, then to “Students”. From here, select all students, or at least the ones you would like to disable the leaderboard for. Then select “Accommodations”, then “Settings”. You will see a “View Leaderboard” button - ensure that is unchecked, then hit “Apply”.
Q. What is Simple Login?
A. Use “Enable Simple Login” makes it easy for K-2 and special education students to get into Typing Agent. Students simply click on their names and icons to login instead of typing customary usernames and passwords.
Q. How do I change the Path on which my student was placed?
A. Students earn their spots on a path based solely on their performance on the Placement Test. The only way to change this is to reset the data of each student, one at a time, and have them resit the test. Hopefully they will do better (or worse) to be put on another path.
Q. How will students working on iPads use Typing Agent?
A. Students who work with iPads will need to use a bluetooth or external keyboard. The iPad will function as a monitor at this point. The reason for this is that typing is very essential to learn by not only visual but muscle memory, and it's important that they be equipped with the correct tools to learn the material. (Be sure to skip the mouse exercises for K-2 students.)
Q. How do I enroll students in multiple classrooms?
A. There are a few ways to do this:
If you are a District Administrator, navigate to User Management. Search the student you would like to enroll in multiple classrooms. From the right fly-out menu, select "Edit Student & Enrollments". You can select multiple classrooms within a school to place a student.
If you are a School Administrator, navigate to your Admin button, then to User Management. From here, search the student you would like to enroll in multiple classrooms. From the right fly-out menu, select "Edit Student & Enrollments". You can select multiple classrooms within a school to place a student.
Q. How do I communicate to my students via the program?
A. You can communicate via an announcement to a class, or by assigning a due date through our calendar feature.
For instruction on how to make an Announcement, click here.
For instruction on how to use our Calendar Feature, click here.
Student Licenses:
Q: I need to add more licenses. How can I get them?
A: Contact your account rep or write to support@typingagent.com. State how many licenses you need and we'll get that process moving for you within 48 hours.
Q. How do I add students?
A. If your main account administrator has enabled student management for teachers and school administrators, navigate to your class, then to your "Students" tab. From here, select "Add Students" next to your class name.
Q. I have enough licenses, but I can’t add students because it tells me they’re used up! Help!
A. The license miscount is generally due to having unassigned students, which are accounts not in use. You can find and manage/delete these accounts by navigating to "User Management", then selecting the funnel icon and filtering for "Unassigned Students”. This will show all accounts that are not in any classroom.
Curriculum:
Q. Can students use Typing Agent at home and can Typing Agent be used for remote learning?
A. Yes, Typing Agent is 100% web based which means that as long as they have an internet connection, students can login from wherever they are and continue right where they left off at school with the program. Staff can also login and monitor student activity and progress remotely as well.
You will login to the same school or district url that you use in class and with the same account user credentials. It's really that easy.
Please share our tech specs with your families so they can have the most optimal experience.
Note: Be sure that your school did not limit any IP addresses in your admin settings as that will prevent students from logging in from home. To check this school admins can navigate to School Management >> Permissions and scroll to the bottom of the page if you see IP addresses listed, clear them and then click Save.
Q. My second-graders just moved up to third grade, so why is it still giving them the K-2 curriculum? How do I move them up?
A. In order to move students from 2nd grade curriculum to 3rd grade curriculum, select the student, then choose "Curriculum". From here, select "Assign All" under Keyboarding Foundations 3+ and "Remove All" under Keyboarding Foundations K-2.
Q. My kindergarteners, first and second graders don't use computers that have mouse capability. How can I skip the mouse lessons?
A. If you are a teacher or school administrator, you will first navigate to the class. Then, choose "Settings". From here, select "Lesson Settings". You will see an option to disable the mouse.
If you are a district administrator or a standalone school administrator, you can navigate to "School Management," then to "Grade Settings". From here, select "K-2nd". You will see the option to Skip Mouse Lessons. Ensure this is checked and click "Apply".
Q. What are Agent Challenge Lessons?
A. Agent Challenge Lessons push students to perform beyond the WPM and accuracy targets set for their school year. These lessons should be done only AFTER all regular lessons have been completed. For example, if Grade 3 students are expected to type 15 WPM with 85% accuracy by the end of third grade, then Agent Challenge Lessons will expect them to type at least 16WPM at 86% accuracy.
Q. How do I archive my school's data?
A. The ability to archive your school's or district's data is found under our New Year's Reset article. For further instruction, please follow this navigation:
If you are the administrator of a district, click here.
If you are the administrator of a standalone school, click here.
Q. How do I assign my students due dates for lessons?
A. To assign lessons to a whole classroom use our Calendar feature. Activate this by clicking on the classroom on the left > Settings > Curriculum > Click the tiny folder on top right of the Keyboarding Curriculum you're using. Lessons will now appear. Use the black calendar buttons on right select the date by which students have to do those lessons. When students login, they need to click on their calendar to see the lessons that have been assigned. They should consult this to see if work has been assigned to them.
Teacher Insights:
Q. My students work at home, but is there a way that I can see when they’ve been working outside school hours and for how long?
A. Yes! You can check the students’ usage of the program within and outside of school hours by a simple report. Navigate to your class. Then choose "Reports". Select "Time Report". Select "Keyboarding Foundations", then choose or create a date range. From here scroll down to the bar graph. You'll see how much time was worked outside of school hours versus inside of school hours.
Q. What does “Active Student” mean?
A. It indicates that a student has logged in to the program at least once. If a single student logins multiple times on a single day, it will count only single login.
So if student logins multiple times on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in a week, it will count 3 logins for that student.
Q. What's a quick way to view student progress?
A. By clicking a classroom on the left, teachers and school administrators click "Reports" then "Progress Report" to get a quick overview of how well and how far that group of students have done in the program. If they want to see only a single student's results, click directly on the student's name in their rosters.
Q. Where can I find some printable offline activities for my students?
A. Teachers and school administrators can access printable activities by navigating to the class, then selecting the three black dots on the right side of the class name. From here, you'll find options to print offline activities as well as a keyboard cut-out.
Technical Troubleshooting:
Q: How do I upgrade from Classic TA to TA5 and does it cost more?
A: Upgrading to TA5 from Classic is free and we have created an account migration tool that makes the upgrade process easy. Here is a link to our help doc with instructions on how upgrading works: http://help.typingagent.com/en/articles/3444187-upgrading-from-classic-to-typing-agent-5-0
Q. I’m having an issue with Typing Agent’s functionality. Why isn’t the site working?
A: If you find yourself running into any site issue, it’s always best to clear your cache first and refresh your browser as a first step in troubleshooting. Cached files can often cause certain pages to run poorly.
Q: Are there any domains that I should whitelist that will optimize my experience with Typing Agent?
A: Before starting Typing Agent, it’s recommended that you take a look at these important domains to whitelist in your district's network or computer's browser. This will ensure that Typing Agent is running optimally on your connection:
Be sure to also take a look at Typing Agent’s tech specs to ensure optimization.
Purchasing and Billing:
Q: Can I pay my invoice online?
A: Yes, you can. Simply click on your personal invoice link found in the email message we sent to you and then click the green “Pay Online’ button at the top of the page.
Q: How do I purchase, renew my subscription, add students or request a quote?
A: Typing Agent handles all renewal quotes and invoices in house. In order to purchase, renew your subscription, add students, or request a quote, simply complete this online form or email us directly at: support@typingagent.com.
Q: How do I request a quote?
A: There are three (3) ways to request a quote.
Navigate to the Request a Quote page from the front end of our website and complete the form.
2. From inside your Typing Agent 5 dashboard, simply click on the dropdown next to your
profile picture on the upper right hand side of your TA5 dashboard, then click the
orange “Purchase” button, from there using the top left dropdown, tell us that you are
“Requesting a Quote” and then complete the rest of the form and then click ‘Submit”.
3. Email us directly to request your quote at: support@typingagent.com.
Features:
Q: Can I suggest a feature that I don’t see?
A: We are always interested in hearing from our teachers and admins. In fact that is what Typing Agent was founded on. If there is a feature you would like to see in an upcoming release, please email your idea to support@typingagent.com.
Misc:
Q. Can students use Typing Agent at home and can Typing Agent be used for remote learning?
A. Yes, Typing Agent is 100% web based which means that as long as they have an internet connection, students can login from wherever they are and continue right where they left off at school with the program. Staff can also login and monitor student activity and progress remotely as well.
Teachers, be sure to share the secure Typing Agent web address so that your students log into the correct account. Students will login to the same school or district web address that you use in class and with the same account user credentials. It's really that easy.
Please share our tech specs with your families so they can have the most optimal experience.