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?

[Taylor]

And the whiteboard I voted for is a SmartBoard. Those things are wicked fun.

[sanddrag]

white board without question

[Jay H 237]

I would go with the whiteboard since overall I think it's more conveinent than a blackboard.

I've found that the colored markers seem to write better and are easier to clean off than some of the colored chalk.

Chalk has a habit of getting lost/misplaced/taken so it doesn't seem much better then the markers. Yeah, they can dry out but if you keep a few around it's not that bad. Just hope you don't keep getting people writing on the board with ANY marker they find laying around, otherwise keep a can of acetone around to clean the board of permanent marker, like we have to do at times at work.

We changed the style of some of the light diffusers in the flourescent fixtures and glare doesn't seem to be a problem anymore. This isn't always a problem, it just depends on where the board is mounted in relation to lights and windows. I have seen some shiney blackboards where glare was a problem, either because they have a shine to the finish to begin with or because some people like to coat them with lemon oil.

[JohnBoucher]

http://www.numonics.com/ipmindex.html

Interactive Presentation Manager - The team bought one with a grant.

[Mike]

Whiteboard. I hate writing with chalk...

[Graham Donaldson]

Originally Posted by boiler

And the whiteboard I voted for is a SmartBoard. Those things are wicked fun.

AGREED! Those things are awesome...when my middle school had them and we had to align them, you felt like Vanna White (spelling- ?) on Wheel of Fortune clicking the little circles- ahh, the innocent fun of 7th grade.

No, but seriously- definitely whiteboards. Knowing my team, we would erase whatever was on it (especially if strategy was designing the robot at the beginning of the season) so many times that if we had a blackboard, we'd all have dust poisoning (???). Plus, (and I know you can do it on a blackboard) with a whiteboard, you can get tons of different colors to help illustrate subsystems and things behind/in front of other things.

Conclusion: Whiteboards.
Reason: Less of a mess overall.

The Canuck

[tony.dalia.195]

definitely whiteboard and if possible a smart board because i have played fps's on that with someone using the keyboard and its aweome, oh and black boards are a no because they have the possibility to make that horrible screechy noise(i just suirmed thinkin about it)

[Andy A.]

I hate writing on and listing to others use blackboards.

They are dusty, noisy and give me all kinds of weird shivers up my spine. It's hard to explain why they mess with my ears and skin so much, but using them is uncomfortable. I avoid it at all costs. I just despise them.

White boards on the other hand, aside from the funky smelling markers, are a pleasure to use. I like the smoothness of writing on them, the many colors, the clean erasure, and I think they help keep a room bright looking. Writing with a marker feels more natural then holding onto a small piece of chalk, and that means clearer text and drawings for me.

-Andy A.

[Andrew Blair]

Oh man, get the freaking blackboard. Chalk makes you think better, I'm telling you what...

But seriously, get what you prefer. I really do prefer the blackboards, but finding chalk in a school full of whiteboards can be difficult. Whiteboards can also be a bit easier when trying to outline points (colors!). But for some reason, chalk on the fingers makes it feel like you're doing something...


*By the way, SmartBoards are nice, but only if your faculty knows how to use them! Most of the teachers have followed a slow curve to get up to speed with them. Like 2 or 3 years up to speed...

[artdutra04]

Blackboard. Period.

I may love technology, but I also love a ton of "old school" ideas. I've always loved analog watches and clocks, I love watching steam powered railroad locomotives, my favorite video game is Pacman, "classic" rock still rocks, and somehow I've always preferred blackboards. There is something about blackboards, a certain amount of resistance that the chalk offers while writing, that makes writing on them just seem more concrete, in the same sense that reading something from a newspaper or book has always seemed more concrete than reading it off the Internet.

[karinka13]

im big on the SMARTBoard

[Futbol.195]

Whiteboards beat balckboards any day. At my school they use yellow chalk and almost most all of my white shirts our yellow becasue of blackboards

[Ben Piecuch]

Whiteboard. Chalk just doesn't small as good as those scented dry-erase markers!

Blackboards are very messy, dusty, and when photographed are not as easy to insert into a presentation or paper. The black background looks very odd... Blackboards are also quite heavy compared to a whiteboard. Try setting one of those up in your pits.

Art, feel free to bring a blackboard to our meetings, but you'll probably be the only one writing on it.

BEN

[Alex Cormier]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

But the markers smell and die unexpectedly.

The chalk doesn't die either? It also disappears easily, but it is expected the chalk will disappear unlike the markers not writing anymore.

i like white boards, it makes it easier to read if different colors, also better quality in the sense of the lines aren't so thick when using chalk.


also it brightens the room up, unlike the darkness of a chalk board. haha (i had to add that in.)