Will typing follow cursive out of the classroom?

This photo made Saturday, April 6, 2013, shows a demonstration of keyboarding in Dallas. Does typing have a future? The time-honored skill of typing/keyboarding, while still useful, is less necessary than it used to be.
This photo made Saturday, April 6, 2013, shows a demonstration of keyboarding in Dallas. Does typing have a future? The time-honored skill of typing/keyboarding, while still useful, is less necessary than it used to be.

DALLAS (AP) - The time-honored skill of typing is certainly still helpful, but it's becoming less necessary. And that's raising the question: Does typing have a future?

In the halls of high schools and community colleges where keyboarding classes have been a staple for decades, some fear the courses may go the way of cursive writing lessons in elementary schools.

Dallas typing instructor Julie Phillips says predictive keyboards on smartphones and tablet touch screens that guess what words are being typed have taken the skill out of keyboarding. She says fewer students are coming in with keyboarding knowledge.

Mobile technology analysts say keyboards likely won't disappear from computers. But mobile phone-makers say speed is important, and predictive screens decrease the time needed to type - or thumb - each word.

Accompanying video report: http://bit.ly/10LtYWS