Whiteboards vs. Blackboard: “So, on the one hand, we’ve got a classroom board that can be written on only with special pens. You can never tell when the pens will run out before they actually do so, and there’s no good way to extend the life of a pen once it finally expires. On the other hand, we’ve got little sticks of calcium carbonate. Sticks that are so cheap that even starving teachers can afford to spring for a box…” Jared Kendall —Chalk’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated (The Advocate)

Who remembers the smell of ditto machine ink? I mentioned it just now while waiting around the office printer, and five or six faculty/staff members all went “Mmmm!” but the student worker shook his head blankly.