Slate vs Blackboard vs Green Board. Which one is best for studying?

 Have you studied on the blackboard or greenboard? 

We all might have gone to school for a certain period of time, let's say from 2 to 17, for high school, right? Those who are aged 22+ might have used slate, and we have also seen our teachers teaching us using chalkboards. Primarily, there are two types of boards which are used in schools for teaching purposes.

From primary school, I have been taught on the blackboard till my 8th grade of schooling. After that, they changed the chalkboards from black to green. So I was thinking like why did they do that? And what was on the blackboard, or what wasn't there, that led to the evolution of it into the Greenboard? When all these questions hit my mind then I couldn't resist researching it.

Primarily, when schools and classrooms were evolving the concepts of learning, there was a basic and simple need. They need something to write on. We wanted something on which we could write and erase again and again. There was white limestone, which was to be used as chalk. But we required a surface on which that white chalk can be seen. So a wooden piece of cuboid shaped block coated with black slate was chosen.

What is slate?

 Slate is a material which has been used for roofing purposes since 1300 AD, nearly 725 years ago. And thus Blackboard was formed, and chalk was being seen on Blackboard, clearly from a distance. At first, we never expected or saw any serious issues with using blackboards. 

But as the load and pressure of studies increased by seeing the writings on the blackboard made students tired. It was very tiring to keep looking at the black surface. And the reasons are given below.  

Eye fatigue: 

Eye fatigue is a term which refers to the discomfort in the eyes due to the increased stress level in the eyes, which happens as follows for blackboards.

The black surface of the Blackboard absorbs the light on it. And due to its matte finish, it doesn't reflect light. On the other hand, white chalk due to its white colour, reflects all the lights. which was a visual imbalance. Due to this, students feel an immense amount of visual fatigue while watching blackboards in long lectures.

Blackboard evolution into Greenboard 

Then the experiment started, and they started developing ideas. Thus, greenboards are formed by developing the porcelain enamel on steel technique. This green colour was not a slate material as a blackboard. It was developed by quoting the porcelain enamel on a thin layer of steel. That is why it's less rough.

Advantages of the greenboard over the blackboard

It was less rough, meaning smoother, and thus it will increase the overall efficiency as the chalk will last longer and less dust will be there. Apart from that, when this greenboard was formed, various research was conducted on that, and many psychological studies were conducted. 

Which resulted in that green colour being naturally calming for the eyes. It keeps the brain relaxed and helps in focusing while reading. That's why you mostly see greenboards in use. 

Still, there are plenty of places where blackboards are used instead of green, but if there must be awareness and the budget should be increased, then at least students will have less eye fatigue than with blackboards.

Conclusion:

We might have developed various tech products for education and teaching purposes, such as projector rooms for presentation, VR gadgets to experience the virtual world, while walking or gaming, but still, this topic creates nostalgia, and we all have our various past sentiments connected to it, which can't be forgotten.