Re: advice on classroom modifications

[Stephen Murray <murray8@LLNL.GOV>]

Just to add a bit of my experience on whiteboards.  They do tend to
build up a bit of a residual image with use, but I've found that to
be the case with slate boards as well (maybe ours are cheap).  We are
able to minimize the residual image problems by using either
cheesecloth or a slightly damp rag instead of a whiteboard eraser.
The damp cloth also reduces the dust, although the cloth gets filthy.

Overall, I like whiteboards.  I really enjoy the ability to easily
write in technicolor, and avoid the chalk dust, which as somebody
already mentioned, dries the hands.  It's also nice to be able to
project transparencies directly onto the whiteboard, and write on top
of it, without writing on the transparency itself.  Works well for
web images, too.

The fumes from the standard markers are a major irritant.  After a
lecture, both myself, and the first 1-2 rows of students would be
lightheaded.  A few years back, however, my wife gave me a present of
a set of odorless markers, and I haven't gone back to regular markers
since.

> The whiteboards, however, have been a different experience.  After about 2
> hours of heavy use, the whiteboard gets harder to erase. There is also
> plenty of "dust" from the markers.  (And unlike chalk dust, which tends to
> just brush off, the marker "dust" permanently ruined some of my clothes.)
>
> If cleaned well and appropriately, the whiteboards are again ok at the
> beginning of the next day.  However it was usually my experience that the
> whiteboards were not cleaned well and appropriately.  They were either
> ignored ("they're dustless -- we don't need to clean the erasers every
> day") or they were over-treated with some sort of chemical that made it
> nigh impossible to actually write on them.
>
> And don't get me started on the marker fumes :-).

================================
Stephen D. Murray
Physicist, A Division
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Email:  sdmurray@llnl.gov
Phone: (925) 423-9382
FAX:    (925) 423-0925
================================