> To this day it is a real mystery to me why people would prefer whiteboards over blackboards.
I vastly prefer whiteboards over blackboards. It's the physical sensation of writing for me.
Using markers is smooth, a bit like writing with a pen on paper. Writing with chalk is rough and technically difficult - there is a component of pressure one needs to master.
It's not obvious to me how the finished product is any better with a blackboard or a whiteboard (although I've heard several people try). Or how whiteboards are "soul-sucking". People who prefer blackboards seem like those who prefer vinyl over CDs, but with even fewer coherent arguments. Which is fine - everyone has a hobby - but maybe be a little less vitriolic about it?
Whiteboards do have the downside of staining over time, but using glass is a foolproof solution to that particular problem. It's amazing how inexpensively one can find very large, used, glass-covered picture or art frames.
> Using markers is smooth, a bit like writing with a pen on paper.
What I personally like least about whiteboards is that I cannot use the whiteboard markers sideways like a chalk, which is the best writing position to avoid contact with the board. When I write with a pen on paper, I can put my arm on the paper, but this is not advisable with a whiteboard. The pointed ends of the markers lead to a very uncomfortable position where the hand needs to be turned as far out as possible to bring the tip of the pen as perpenticular as possible onto the board. In this position it is quite difficult to achieve good quality handwriting. I myself know only one person whose whiteboard writing is genuinely visually appealing. However, I also agree with other commentators here: You need a good blackboard and good chalk to really have fun writing on it.
Most of the objections to blackboards or whiteboards can be mitigated by carrying one's own tools. For blackboards, I bring my own Hagoromo chalk [1,2] which has a wonderful touch and is radically less dusty, and several Korean microfiber auto detailing cloths [3]. I use a damp cloth to wipe the board before and after teaching, and a dry cloth as an erasor while teaching. Every month or so, I do a laundry load of all my cloths. I see colleagues in stages I've passed through, such as carrying a sponge, pail, and squeegee, and I've learned to say nothing. If there's a stage I haven't reached yet, however, I'm all ears.
Blackboards themselves also vary in quality; some ceramic surfaces can rival traditional slate. One can't really judge the experience starting with a cheap, dirty board and using institutional chalk and erasers.
I've enjoyed whiteboards in well-funded companies. In academics, it is profoundly embarrassing how often a speaker will have traveled for a lecture, only to find a dirty whiteboard and the local markers dried out. This is why speakers would rather lip-sync to PowerPoint slides. Were I using a whiteboard, I'd also bring my own tools.
Pad and paper is certainly easy, but artists brave serious messes to produce oil pastels for sale. In my case, students are carrying student loans half their lives. I prefer chalk over slides because it forces a live performance. I then share my Notability drawn notes, because they're better.
* Isopropyl alcohol is one of the most effective cleaners along with being readily available almost everywhere, and very inexpensive.
* If you want to erase permanent marker from a white board, it sometimes works to color over it with dry erase marker, and then erase it like normal. Often you need multiple passes for the full effect.
For me, the tactile sensation of chalk on a blackboard is deeply irritating. Something about the noise it makes, the dust and vibration it just repulses me. A whiteboard has none of these drawbacks and it also requires less effort to make a mark on the board.
> probably something to do with chalk dust. I don’t miss chalk dust.
However, the chalk dust has been replaced by synthetic colours that can ruin any cloth they come in contact with and are much harder to remove from the skin than chalk.
- writing left-handed, whiteboards are somewhat easier to write on legibly without both erasing some of what you wrote and covering yourself with residue (which then transfers less to your clothing).
- The sound and feeling of chalk on a chalkboard makes my skin crawl.
I vastly prefer whiteboards over blackboards. It's the physical sensation of writing for me.
Using markers is smooth, a bit like writing with a pen on paper. Writing with chalk is rough and technically difficult - there is a component of pressure one needs to master.
It's not obvious to me how the finished product is any better with a blackboard or a whiteboard (although I've heard several people try). Or how whiteboards are "soul-sucking". People who prefer blackboards seem like those who prefer vinyl over CDs, but with even fewer coherent arguments. Which is fine - everyone has a hobby - but maybe be a little less vitriolic about it?
Whiteboards do have the downside of staining over time, but using glass is a foolproof solution to that particular problem. It's amazing how inexpensively one can find very large, used, glass-covered picture or art frames.