Is blackboards or whiteboards better for teaching?

what is good for teaching whiteboards or blackboards?.

Do blackboards still have value in the education market?

what is the better tool for teaching, there is another thing better?

in this article were going to discover the 9 comparisons between blackboards and whiteboards for teaching.

Blackboard are dirty

Blackboard has a common downside that most teachers know about is dust. Erasing blackboards create a lot of dust which could be suffocating and dirty for teachers or students.

But the most interesting thing is that chalk dust could entrain complications to people who have chronic breathing such as asthma and other related diseases.

According to ConsumerHealthDay 15 of the American population suffer from chronic breathing issues which means 1 in 7 people has respiration trouble. Chalkboards could be harmful and cause complications for asthmatic persons.

Many professors who have chronic breathing issues use whiteboards or other digital whiteboards like in this video.

High pressure and friction

Approximately, a single human finger is able to exert between 8 to 10lbs of force. Whiteboard demands having markers, they are softer and easy for writing.

Writing on a whiteboard is less than 50% rough than on a blackboard. Blackboard is using chalk, it needs more power and force to exert to write. For instance, if we consider that writing on a blackboard requires 1kg of force, using whiteboards only need 0.5 kg.

That means less force so less energy and more comfort. Currently, teachers are using less effort to explain compared to old teachers and professors. It was hard that much to exert the continuous power to small fingers.

this side of friction makes teaching with whiteboards more efficient than blackboards.

Whiteboard have better visibility

Whiteboard reflects the light almost 10 times more than blackboard. That being said less electricity consumption better visibility and ease of taking notes. It makes things easier for teachers and professors to make information clear and get attention.

On whiteboards, students can see well. All lessons parts like numbers letters are clear and can be seen from long distances. Hence after several uses, chalkboards need to be washed with water. No one could argue that teaching with whiteboards is cleaner than blackboards?.

Whiteboards don’t need to do this dirty cleaning job. You can only use a specific cleaning product or alcohol with a towel and things get done. you can watch this video to see how the whiteboard is cleaned.

Whiteboard are expensive compared to chalck

Whiteboards are 4 to 5 times more expensive than blackboards, also markers cost 10 times than chalks. But if we look at the durability markers last more and don’t get consumed easily like chalks.

Also, blackboards require consistent painting works to keep them in a good state. Approximately every year you need to paint those old boards. So there are some expenses that could be added to a blackboard. While whiteboards don’t require any washing or painting works.

Just good cleaning habits are enough to ensure the durability of the whiteboard.

Students retain the information better with witheboards

More than 70% of schools are using whiteboards in their classes, which means only 3 of seven classes are still using blackboards. Students say that whiteboards are easily interactive and easy to read and retain information from.

Many students prefer to use whiteboards to study in schools. Also for teacher whiteboard are not messy and don’t darkness the environment like blackboards. This is what encourages many schools to transform from blackboards to whiteboards.

Make room brigther

whiteboards are reflecting light by 90% which makes an appealing environment to study. It has a white background that rise the student concentration which makes taking notes easy and beneficial for students.

This is what makes the all-digital whiteboard with the same principle the white background and black writing. Blackboards absorb the light by 96% which always requires using them in a good lighting environment.

Chalk dry the skins

According to Everydayhealth, more than 81 million people have experienced skin issues like dryness and itching. The intensive use of chalk can cause drying and cracking skin. For this reason, so many teachers or professors are using moisturizers to keep hydrating their skins, especially for women.

People who don’t have moisturizers have to permanently wash their hands while some professors use gloves to get rid of this problem.

But the most crucial case is for people who already have sensitive and dry skin, chalk could be crucial and deteriorate skin health. These sensitive people are always using whiteboards and avoid using chalk for any cost.

Chalk are hard to deal for short people

According to all countries, 56% have under 5,4 feet tall as women and 4,5% for means of US population. So this is a problem that women are sensed more than men. Many students are laughing at teachers who can’t begin writing from the top of the board.

This is a weird problem that fewer people could take into account. Using chalk for short people is impossible and it needs to hold it well unless it will break out. This is not the case with markers, the relatively short people could add some altitude and recover some respect.

Whiteboard markers are durable and resistant so it is impossible to break them with fingers.

Whiteboards are good for making online classes

According to think impact Since 2020, 98% of universities moved classes online. 19.5% of undergraduates took at least one online course. in 2019 more than $101billion was recorded in the online course industry. This sector is booming and has an unstoppable potential.

In the covid lockdown, the majority of people took and learned online. So many people have engaged in this industry and entered the market.

So if you want or are thinking to make an online course having a whiteboard is the first requirement, you wouldn’t find someone filming videos on the blackboard. Today blackboards are obsolete and couldn’t be used in this field. you can watch the video below to learn how to make a course using simple tools

Whiteboards are 3 types

3 types of whiteboards are available in the market MELAMINE, PAINED STEEL, and GLASS whiteboards. Every type has its own specification, we will discover the difference between each type and what is the best one for teaching.

melamine whiteboard

The melamine whiteboard is the cheapest board among these 3 categories. It has low quality and is not durable it has the 4 following characteristics:


A rough surface: is rough and doesn’t have a soft or brilliant surface, you can see like small hole it behave like a blackboard. it doesn’t give a good writing experience. You will feel rough writing through it. it is not comfortable.


Not magnetic: you cant use a magnet to hold your stickers or paper notes. So you don’t have any way to stick your notes on the board. Notes takers won’t love this characteristic in this case the only solution you could have is to use stickers.


Easily damaged: It can be easily scratched or drilled it doesn’t have any sort of resistance you could damage it easily. So it needs careful use and prevents using sharp tools to deal with.


Short life span: the life span of a melamine board is between 2 to 5 years but keeping it till 5-year use is hard and require overcaring and being aware of the right technics to erase and write on it.

pained steel whiteboard

painted steel whiteboard has steel as the primary substance of its composition it has many advantages and also disadvantages. painted steel whiteboard are:


magnetic: you can hold your stuff on it without any problem, using some coined and specific magnet for that would be good. The magnets must have a plastic layer to protect a whiteboard. A specialist don’t recommend using a raw magnet to not damage the weak surface of the board

reflective: it good has a shiny and has reflective surface, writings are shown easily through it. It has an acceptable look and can do the job as much as has to be.


not durable: can be easily scratched

glass whiteboard

glass whiteboards are the expensive model among these the last two models that we noticed above. Because they have a good quality of for reflection and durability, glass whiteboard is:

non-magnetic: This is the downside of the glass whiteboard, the glass whiteboard doesn’t have a metallic characteristic, but notes stickers could solve the problem.

30 years life span: glass whiteboards are durable and resist scratches and sharp tools. So it doesn’t need to be afraid for like the previous ones.


Reflective: glass whiteboard has excellent reflectivity, writings are shown more elegant and clear which makes a big difference compared to the cheapest whiteboards.

What is the best whiteboard to choose

you can watch this video below it hold all the best 5 whiteboards for teaching.

Conclusion

Chalkboards are no longer used today most people prefer using whiteboards for teaching more than blackboards and getting rid of dust and chaos. But mathematicians still love blackboard. So what makes mathematicians love these old blackboards?.

yassin.ajanif

Yassin ajanif is a physics graduate and electromechanical engineer width more than 5 years in the field. My goal and my team are to share our experience to help you succeed in your career as a stem major. we talk about all tips, problems, and struggle STEM students face in their career and how to overcome them.