Whiteboards vs. Blackboards

[Greg Marra]

Large writing surfaces are awesome thinking tools. But what is better, the chalk-based blackboard, or the marker-based whiteboard?

Blackboards let you draw thick lines easily, are easier to read from a distance, and don't glare like whiteboards. But you can't project onto them, they need their erasers clapped, and they're just all dusty.

Whiteboards are much easier to erase, don't make the room all chalky, and can be augmented with a computer projector. But the markers smell and die unexpectedly.

If you had to choose, would you install a blackboard or a whiteboard in your school's FIRST room?