Boards.part1

BoardsEspiritu MarynelCueto ElenjoyColoma Mariel

Old English bord "a plank, flat surface," from Proto-Germanic*burdam (cf. Old Norse borð "plank," Dutch bord "board

Etymology and Definition

The chalkboard is a flat, vertical writing surface on which anything can be inscribed by means of a piece of chalk. The device is generally used for educational purposes, but it can also be found in the workplace, the home, and restaurants. While chalkboards can be manufactured from a variety of materials, porcelain enamel is the most common material used in today's chalkboard.The origins of the chalkboard date back to the early decades of the 19th century. The forerunner of the chalkboard was the small, paddle-shaped hornbook. This item had been in use in schools of medieval England, and by the time of the Revolutionary War era in colonial America, it was carried by legions of students.

History of Blackboard/ Chalkboard

The hornbook was a strip of wood with a piece of paper fastened onto it. On the paper were a variety of learning aids in small print. A typical hornbook would carry both the Lord's Prayer and the alphabet, and a translucent sheet of animal horn covered the paper. The hornbooks were small objects, sometimes with a hole at the bottom so they could be tied on a string and worn about the neck.Eventually the hornbook evolved into the reading board. This was a strip of about 15 inches (38 cm) in length, also containing the alphabet and other learning aids, that was hung at the front of the late 18th-century classroom. From the reading board came the concept of one general chalkboard for all students in the classroom to both view and use.

The chalkboard of modern times was patented in 1823. It was developed by a leading educator of the day, Samuel Reed Hall. A minister, Hall founded Vermont's Concord Academy, one of the first formal training schools for American teachers. The early chalkboards were simple pine boards painted black. In other cases, a combination of lime, plaster of Paris (a white powdery substance), and lampblack (fine black soot) was spread on the classroom wall.

Most modern chalkboards are made of porcelain enamel. In this particular manufacturing process, a tough and durable material such as steel is used as the base. There are several thicknesses of steel used in the manufacture of chalkboards, but the most common is 22-gauge. Another crucial element is silica, a crystalline compound derived from quartz or similar minerals. Found in the crust of the earth, silicon is a tough compound and is called silica when combined with oxygen. Silica is found in most rocks and is a common ingredient in many glass and ceramic products. The surface of a chalkboard is usually a blend of inorganic compounds such as a powdered glass opacifier and oxides, an organic element that provides color to the coating material.

While Korean War vet and photographer Martin Heit worked with film negatives, he discovered that the surface of film negatives could be written on with sharpie pen. After his discovery, Heit invented the first whiteboard in the 1950’s. These whiteboards used the same polished surface from film laminate and negatives.

Before the release of the first official whiteboard, a fire broke out inside of the showcase building. The first whiteboard burned to the ground with the rest of the building. Rather than start over, Heit sold his invention to Dry-Mark. Dry-Mark began on the market for schools in the mid 1960s.

History of Whiteboards

Whiteboards rose in popularity during the 1990s, becoming a necessity for the workplace, schools and meeting settings. People began to pick up whiteboards more frequently when concerns rose over health issues caused by chalk dust. Whiteboards began on the market as an expensive product, with a surface made of melamine.

The initial problems of whiteboards were “ghosting,” when traces remain after erasing marker on the whiteboard . Ghosting made the whiteboards difficult to keep clean, and improvements were made to the product. Magnetic whiteboards have reduced the cost and glare from the board surface. The most common whiteboard is made with porcelain-steel magnetic material, and considered the best quality on the market.

•Examples of Boards