Whiteboards are more visible, but have the marker-cap and smell issues. so they are not as bullet-proof. Electronic options are great – but require training and have down time. Of course, with a screen in front (hopefully allowing for the screen and part of the blackboard to show at the same time), a number of the electronic options can occur in conjunction with blackboards. So we use the blackboard as the ‘lowest-common denominator’ interface. It is not the best for all. But in terms of being a reliable base level for the greatest number, it is very effective.

A number of the comments above fall into concerns about which is the best or worst teaching method. Of course, most rooms or blackboards will outlive one user, and everyone will agree that not all teachers should be forced to teach in exactly the same way. So it comes down to providing options to accommodate many styles of professor and student. When I spec a room, I want as much blackboard as I can get on the front wall (24′ sounds good to me) – and then we can start worrying about the harder parts; data projectors etc.

When I was a TA, if I didn’t want to use the blackboard, I’d just go digital. I almost never used the blackboard myself, except for posting announcements etc. But I’d spec it in a room every time.

Mario

ps: the board is about 4feet x 6-7feet and it costs quite a bit.

Yes good idea! LOL!

I was laughing my head off your comment!

(At first, I was going to put what you said too, or expressive dance at least, before the silly comment I made). Of course I was just being jokey and for that reason I actually think the Magnadoodle idea is very good.

It’s a difficult one as it’s your job day in day out. Maybe you could have a chat with your University bosses to see what they can arrange. It’s been a while since I have been at Uni (early 90′s) so not sure what the situation is with regards to how lecture theatres are kitted out these days, especially in the US.

Cheers,

Claire

Chalkboards are little more than plywood and a specialized paint. Chalk is very basic. Expenditures in energy and oil for both are fairly low. Magnadoodle, not so much.

You have a point about visibility of chalkboards but this just suggests small class sizes. Perhaps some sort of technical improvement in chalk to make it more visible.

Try THAT with powerpoint.

My advice would be to replace blackboard – chalk/whiteboard – markers/overhead projector/computer white board – projector/magandoodle/crayola coloured crayons with a large metal board (white or black – black if dyslexic as I am) then use those coloured magnetic alpabet letters and notations – those used on fridges. For pictures you could use long bendy ones or even putty. You could create three dimensional visual effects with the putty, for the students to see theories better with, thereby cutting the amount of space used on a flat vertical plane, that otherwise would be used when writing things like inverse square law eqations. The putty will have ferrite mixed with it so would have to wear gloves over along period of time. In that case, the gloves could have an in built microphone (on the back of the hand area) whereby the sound from the lectuer, reaches the students at the back of the lecture hall.<- less of an excuse for not handing in homework.

Claire

I have, in a classroom setting (with 25 2nd graders doing math or literacy).

They’re not that great.

The writing tends to be messy in appearance, the resistance thing is even weirder than whiteboards, the “erasing” with the magnet poses problems, and above all, they don’t last. With second graders having personal slates, at least, after a couple years the magna-boards are barely functioning as writing platforms.

My experience with handwriting is the same as those who say it’s neater on a chalkboards. The friction level is right for me, resulting in better handwriting and neater drawings. Chalk is my medium and I hate it whenever I’m scheduled to teach in a whiteboard room instead of one of our remaining chalkboard rooms.

One of my colleagues recently asked when we would “finish” getting rid of the chalkboards. Over my dead body.

However, as a few people have mentioned, it is neither necessary nor particularly desirable to always rely too much on black/white boards. You can prepare your lecture notes beforehand and post them for the students to print, and then you can use projectors, boards, transparencies or whatever happens to fit the lecture best.

And Bob, I think you are making a big mistake by waiting until after the lecture with posting your notes. Especially if you want the students not to take notes. It is the best thing ever, in terms of taking notes, to have your own printed copy of the lecture notes with you to the lecture. Then you can follow the lecture and listen to everything while also keeping an eye on the notes. Then you just have to fill in whatever extra information you get from the lecturer that you want to add to the notes. If you only get the notes afterwards, you still have to try to take your own notes during the lecture because you don’t know what you get otherwise.

My mind doesn’t retain anything unless I take notes. And notes I can refer back to years later.

Whiteboards are ideal.