Should kids learn to type on touch-screen keyboards?

So I just thought of this. I'm using a tablet, but I'm using a bluetooth keyboard, which is stupid because I could just whip out the Macbook Pro if I wanted to, and it would be just as easy, so I'm not quite sure why I went to the tablet first. Probably because I just got it in the mail last wee, and I really enjoy a tablet with better specs and 3x more ram. But anyways, I went for the physical keyboard rather than ever trying to use the touch keyboard.

Now I'm a really good typer. Maybe not great, but at the level of most accountants and better than a lot of adults. When I was in gradeschool, people were amazed that I didn't even have to look at the keyboard to see what I was typing, I just took off and went, and I'm gland that typing is a great skill of mmine, because I can spit out 50+ words accurately, and sometimes up to 80 before I start making enough errors where it's not worth typing that fast.

Predictive text and autocorrect are allowing me to type faster because I don't have to worry about correcting my mistakes. However, I'm still limited to a regular keyboard that won't change for certain functions unlike most touch screen keyboards. Actually, touch screen keyboards are awesome, but I'm just not good at using them, and I like feeling where the actual keys are on my keyboard.

Nevertheless, I'd like to run a controlled experiment. In a typing class, have 15 children learn on haptic feedback touch keyboards, and have 15 children learn on regular keyboards. I would think that the kids on physical keyboard would perform better and type more accurately, but I don't think the children on tablets would 'lose.' Even though they're typing might be a little slower, they can change their keyboard to a numberpad easily. If they don't like the position of a shift key, they can move the shift key. If you want to put macros on the left hand side of the keyboard, they can. Even though touch typing may be slower, it's probably worth it in the end, and I would like to push out some touch screen keyboards that work like any other physical keyboard. Actually, that's a great idea, and I'm going to talk to Clayton about it now and see if this might work. There would be a lot more settings and options to configure to everyon'es liking. Big hands, make the keyboard bigger & vice versa.

I think there's a lot of opportunities for people who learn how to use touch typing. I think people like me aren't going to change right now since we all know and love physical keyboards, but I think future generations should start learning through touch typing. There's some food for thought.