By Cassandra Hendry, TLS staff writer
In education and beyond, technology is always adapting and progressing. Students are often seen toting laptops to class to take notes, or pulling out their smartphones to take a picture of a friend鈥檚 handwritten notes for later perusal. PowerPoint has made its way into almost every classroom, and some classes even exist without walls in an online format.
To be a proponent of teaching with simple chalk and blackboard may seem old-fashioned to some, but to others, it鈥檚 what鈥檚 saving education. A small but growing number of professors are speaking out about the benefits that chalkboard teaching鈥攁nd its slightly more advanced technological equivalent鈥攈as, not only for their teaching, but also for their students鈥� learning.
Simon Power, a professor of economics at 杏吧原创, is a staunch supporter of what he calls 鈥榗halk and talk.鈥�
鈥淚n the past 40 or 50 years, a number of people in education have argued against the use of chalk and talk, urging other methods of instruction, perhaps more informal methods,鈥� Power says. 鈥淚鈥檓 arguing in favour of the traditional old-fashioned approach. In some ways I think it鈥檚 more effective.鈥�
As a professor who teaches a subject involving numbers and logic, he says chalkboard teaching meshes well due to the subject matter鈥檚 organized and analytical approach. Power finds it鈥檚 easier to organize his thoughts and he鈥檚 able to stray from prepared lessons to further explain a concept if he鈥檚 using a piece of chalk.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge advantage of chalk and talk if you鈥檙e teaching math or economics. You can look around the class and if you see confusion or people not being happy, it鈥檚 easy if you have a blackboard to explain a rule of calculus,鈥� he says.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e using a PowerPoint slide, it鈥檚 not easy to go sideways. That鈥檚 why I always ask to have three blackboards in the classrooms in which I teach.鈥�
For chemistry and environmental studies professor Pam Wolff, she felt the same way鈥攁t least until two years ago, when she had to teach in rooms that did not have chalkboards or ones that were too small.
Instead of abandoning chalkboard teaching altogether, she turned to a technological upgrade that allowed her to continue her method, but with a slight twist.
Wolff uses a tablet and pen-like stylus connected to a large screen at the front of her classroom. Before class, she prepares roughed-out slides with minimal words鈥攁n equation or fact here and there鈥攁nd writes directly on the slides in class to work out problems or explain further. To her, transitioning to full PowerPoint lectures just wouldn鈥檛 work for her teaching style.
鈥淚f I鈥檓 showing my students information that has been pre-printed on a slide, it鈥檚 like I鈥檓 handing them information down from on high. If I鈥檓 writing and talking and inviting them to talk about it, then it鈥檚 something we developed together,鈥� Wolff says.
Unlike a traditional chalkboard, Wolff鈥檚 tablet has some advantages, such as being able to use colours, pre-write equations or facts, or include the answer to a problem they鈥檙e working on on the slide itself, hidden from view in a light colour.
But while Wolff appreciates the convenience that the tablet has brought, she says sometimes she feels disconnected from her students without a real chalkboard.
鈥淚 make eye contact with my class far more with a chalkboard. When I鈥檓 using my tablet, I find I鈥檓 focused on it for the whole class and after class I find I don鈥檛 really know who was there. Unlike with the board, I spend 90 per cent of my time with a desk between me and my students,鈥� Wolff says.
Power agrees that technology can sometimes have a distancing effect on teaching.
鈥淪tudents as humans are social animals. If you try to take education out of context it begins to become alienating,鈥� he says.
Wolff says that disconnect of relying too heavily on technology for pedagogical purposes can have a definite effect on student learning, one that she strives to avoid.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you overcome the psychological difference of me hitting a button and the next line appears. It just doesn鈥檛 feel as inclusive . . . You can鈥檛 trick your brain into really thinking about something if you know that at a push of a button it鈥檚 already there.鈥�