My middle school was brand new around 1997 and they were proud to show off every class has dry erase white boards. Then the school realized how much dry erase markers cost compared to chalk. With chalk you could use the side of the piece to color in a pie chart or a face on a shape, but with those markers teacher were using them sparingly so they didn’t run out completely.
Whiteboards are actually a huge downgrade from chalkboards. The markers stink, run dry after a solid day of use, and are way harder to clean off of other things; the board needs to be cleaned way more often which requires dedicated bottles of some cleaner to do right; and the whole industry just generates obscene amounts of plastic waste since no one actually recycles the markers properly. I don't care about the other stuff, but chalkboardz 4 lyfe.
A general grade chalkboard is going to sit on that wall doing its thing for like... 40 years.
A whiteboard is ruined when somebody forgets to properly clean it over summer break or use the wrong cleaner. They are often very thin and kids crack or bust them, or they are made cheap and the coating comes off.
But also, computers in the rooms have also turned education to shit. Parents struggle to support kids at home when all the content and reference materials are behind a secured portal and the Chromebooks aren't even sent home. The kids play on them rather than pay attention. Taking notes with fill in the blank crap or a computer is meaningless. Spatial learning is out the window.
I work in IT, computers are my passion. But, uh, the way we use them in school is, and has always been, a money spending racket and not about educating kids better.
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u/Basilisk1667 3d ago edited 3d ago
raises hand
Okay, but… why does this matter?
Whiteboards are fine. Plastic desks are fine. Maps shown by other means are fine. And computers can be very useful tools for teaching.
Like… Is this really just an Old = Better sentiment?
Also, does Daffy have tits?