None of us have forgotten our days in schools, colleges and other educational institutions where it was mandatory to glance at the bulletin board every morning before sauntering to our classrooms. All important notifications and messages that school authorities wanted us to convey to us were brightly displayed on these boards. One still remembers the elation and frustration on seeing our examination results displayed on these display boards. But those of us that have school a couple of decades ago will only recall boards that were rather archaic by today’s standards. Now there are bright white pieces of magnetic plastic that serve to disseminate information.
There are so many varieties of whiteboards that are available today. You can get one custom made for you. The most striking advantage of these boards are they do not result in cloud of chalk dust once the instructor applies their duster to clean what they have written. I remember while sitting in the first row I often had to cough and splutter with chalk dust floating all around me especially during rainy months. The instructor also had their hands filled with chalk dust and often had wipe their fingers in extra handkerchiefs they specially brought for this purpose. But with the advent of dry erase whiteboards that issue has been resolved once and for all.
One also recalls how so often the instructor had to wipe the board halfway through their exposition simply because there was no more space left to write in and we students had to hurry to note down what they had written before it was erased. But these days one can have reversible, freestanding, mobile whiteboards that can be wheeled to any corner of the classroom one wishes and the instructor has the freedom to use the other side when one side of the whiteboard has been filled with his handwriting. This allows students some much needed relief when they are able to concentrate on what is being taught instead of scurrying to note what has been written in the board before it is erased. The mobility of these whiteboards also allows some flexibility in placing the board which might need some kind of shifting depending upon the light of the day. Of course artificial lights can be used to overcome lack of natural light but if some small shifts can allow use of natural light what better can be expected.
There was one more irritation we faced during our school days. In most cases, especially when complex issues of physics, chemistry or statistics were discussed, we needed to view the entire sum at one go for better comprehension but the instructor simply did not have any option but to wipe clean the blackboards once every tiny space available on it was exhausted. Students of today, however, enjoy the luxury of vertical or horizontal sliding whiteboards that are able to display a long sum in its entirety allowing he instructor the freedom of repeatedly referring to earlier steps in order to clarify confusions of students.
