In 1801, the rather obvious solution to the problem made its debut. James Pillans, headmaster and geography teacher at the Old High School in Edinburgh, Scotland, is credited with inventing the first modern blackboard when he hung a large piece of slate on the classroom wall.
Chalkboards and blackboards are still relatively common in schools of all types. However, although chalk boards are still used in schools (particularly in older schools), newly designed schools are moving towards digitised classrooms.
What is the history of the blackboard?
The first classroom uses of large blackboards are difficult to date, but they were used for music education and composition in Europe as far back as the 16th century. The term “blackboard” is attested in English from the mid-18th century; the Oxford English Dictionary provides a citation from 1739, to write “with Chalk on a black-Board”.
A frequent query we ran across in our research was “What was the first blackboard made of?”.
Initially, the blackboards were black before the wall-sized chalkboards came into the picture. Later in the 18th-century, students began using their own mini boards made of slate or painted wood. Thus, the first blackboard was black and then later in 1800, a teacher wanted students to make maps on their boards, but they were too small.
A blackboard (also known as a chalkboard) is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk.
What was the first whiteboard made of?
First whiteboards appeared on the market in 1960’s and were wet wiped. Then came dry marker and whiteboards started replacing blackboards because of allergies concerns and other potential health risks posed by chalk dust that was product of erasing blackboards. First whiteboards were made of enameled steel.
By 1840 blackboards were manufactured commercially, smoothly planed wooden boards coated with a thick, porcelain-based paint. In the 20 th century, blackboards were mostly porcelain-enameled steel and could last 10 to 20 years. Imagine that, a classroom machine so durable and flexible.
Is the blackboard the future of the classroom?
Whatever its incarnation, it’s clear that the blackboard, because of its low-tech efficiency, will remain a staple of the classroom and the boardroom for the foreseeable future.
The board became the mindshare of the classroom. By the mid-19th century, every classroom in the United States had a chalkboard to teach students. This was the only teaching tool in the classroom until whiteboards came along during the late 1980s. But, not all professors and classrooms switched over to the modern mechanism.
Are chalkboards still used in schools?
Chalkboards are obsolete in most schools. Ashley Marquez, who hosts the “Teach Create Motivate” podcast and has been a third-grade teacher for seven years near Dallas, Texas, said chalkboards are no longer a part of most classrooms.
When was the first chalkboard made?
Manufacturing of slate blackboards began by the 1840s. Green porcelain enamel surface, was first used in 1930, and as this type of boards became popular, the word “chalkboard” appeared. In the US green porcelain enamelled boards started to appear at schools in 1950s.
Why do chalkboards outnumber whiteboards in developing countries?
Accessibility: In many developing countries, chalkboards far outnumber whiteboards because they are easier to access. Vipin Makkar, regional manager for Polyvision in India, says, “India is one of the major markets for chalk surfaces in the region.