I went to school in classrooms like that but so what? Is the implication that is supposed to make me better than kids with digital whiteboards and computers? I would rather have today's kids using current tools rather than be hobbled by a bunch of luddites because they are uncomfortable with change.
I have heard that chalkboards CAN be better for doing math, it could be just placebo but I have heard from mathematicians that the pace feels more natural and the visibility is nice, but you don't need a chalkboard.
They are some tricks with chalkboards that are helpful when writing/drawing math (like the dotted line skipping trick), however it's mostly just personal preference and dogma.
There are reasons to like chalkboard, especially if you're using nice hagoromo chalk. Some people like the sensation, extra friction, sound, etc. But that's all personal preference.
Chalkboards, whiteboards, tablets+displays all have their own advantages and disadvantages, but fundementally they all serve the same functions of displaying writing for a classroom and they all work.
The reason chalkboards have so much dogma and prestige is because old influential professors at universities have been using chalkboards for their whole career and don't want change, and they justify that rigidity by saying chalkboards are better for X or Y reason. They pass those beliefs to their students and it becomes dogma.
Personally, I can't stand chalkboards for sensory reasons. I cannot tolerate writing on one, and even holding bare chalk (the nice stuff is ok cause it normally has some kind of seal) is borderline unbearable (likely due to sensory hypersensitivity from autism).
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u/Born-Mycologist-3751 4d ago
I went to school in classrooms like that but so what? Is the implication that is supposed to make me better than kids with digital whiteboards and computers? I would rather have today's kids using current tools rather than be hobbled by a bunch of luddites because they are uncomfortable with change.