Re: blackboard or whiteboard?

[Mark Sylvester <msylvest@SPIN.IT>]

At 17:44 03-04-99 -0600, you wrote:
> Comments from an old curmudgeon:
> I think better and faster when writing with white chalk on a black board.
> I believe my students learn more from such a presentation.
> The age-old mark of a teacher has always been chalk dust on hands and suit.
> Black ink on hands and clothes is the mark of a printer.
> You can't clap two whiteboard erasers together to enable your students to see a
> laser beam in a darkened room.
> I've told my chairman I cannot teach in a room without blackboards and chalk.
>
> poj

I used to be a chalk diehard and have made all of the above comments at some
time. I was weaned by a spell of 5 years in a temporary lab where I had to
write on the OHP. I found this physically convenient as I could face the
class while writing, so it made for better communication. A glass sheet and
water soluble ink meant that I didn't consume vast quantities of acetate. In
the new lab I use mainly the whiteboard, and I really don't miss the chalk.
The main advantage is that the place is really *much* cleaner without layers
of calcium carbonate over everything. It's just aesthetically a lot better.
If it is indeed a health hazard I'll go back to the OHP.

Mark


Mark Sylvester
UWC of the Adriatic
34013 Duino TS
Italy
msylvest@spin.it