This web site mentions chalk dust as a common trigger of asthma
> attacks in children:
What I don't understand is that blackboards have been around for ages but asthma seems to be growing among kids. Given that, I wonder if chalkdust is really the cause.
Another poster complained this was off-topic. This newsgroup tends to examine a variety of issues regarding all _communication_, not just telecom.
BTW, I've seen electronic whiteboards that transmit the writings or produce a hardcopy, though they don't seem to get much use.
Also, I must admit whiteboards can double as a projection screen, instead of having a separate screen. With the decrease of price in computer projectors and ease of products like PowerPoint (which I personally dislike), perhaps writings will be pre-done by computer rather than written on the fly. (There's also the older transparency overhead projector that's been around for a long time.)
However, I have always found it easier to follow and take notes of a traditional lecture where the teacher writes on a blackboard as he goes along, rather than showing an entire frame all at once (and that disappears for the next slide).
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When I first reviewed this subject in preparing the issue of the Digest a few days ago, my first thought was that Lisa was referring to the 'whiteboard' concept which is common in certain chat programs for computer: the screen is divided in two parts with half given over to a whiteboard on which the chat participants can 'doodle' or draw things for the other participants in the chat. PAT]