Analogue tools still useful
Staff and faculty at Duke described the simple analog tools they rely on—chalk, basic calculators and paper—that keep work grounded and low-friction (today.duke.edu). The same principle is being suggested for younger learners: physical materials like mini-whiteboards, counters and anchor charts can make thinking visible without adding digital distractions (today.duke.edu).
At Duke, staff and faculty said chalk, pens, paper forms and basic hand tools still do jobs faster and with less friction than digital substitutes. (today.duke.edu) Duke Today published the piece on April 13, 2026, and led with mathematics professor Ezra Miller, who said chalk slows him down in a useful way when he writes formulas in class. Miller said the pace helps him explain each step and gives students time to take notes. (today.duke.edu) The story also named Pratt School of Engineering communication consultant Ilana Palmer, who keeps felt-tipped Paper Mate Flair pens in blue, green, red, orange and yellow for meeting notes and planning. Duke Facilities Management mechanic Kelvin Sanders, who has worked at Duke for nearly 35 years, said his multi-bit screwdrivers have outlasted carbon-copy forms, radios, pagers and now an iPad. (today.duke.edu) The thread running through the examples is speed of use: tools that are ready the moment a class starts, a meeting begins or a repair call comes in. In Miller’s case, the article said chalkboards have been used in American schools since the early 1800s and still hang in most Duke math classrooms. (today.duke.edu) That argument lands at a moment when Duke is also pushing hard on digital systems, not retreating from them. In 2025, Duke said a Triangle Artificial Intelligence summit was organized by Duke Learning Innovation and Lifetime Education, Duke Libraries, Duke Community Affairs and the Duke School of Nursing, and the university also noted a pilot that gave all undergraduates a prepaid license to ChatGPT-4o. (today.duke.edu) Duke has made similar cases before about slowing thought down enough to make it visible. A 2011 Duke Today item on “Visible Thinking” framed student work as something that can be externalized and examined, rather than kept hidden in the head. (today.duke.edu) That same idea helps explain why physical classroom materials keep resurfacing in teaching practice for younger learners. Mini-whiteboards, counters and anchor charts put intermediate steps in plain sight, so a teacher can see what a child is doing before an answer is right or wrong. (today.duke.edu) Duke’s April 13 piece did not argue that laptops, tablets or artificial intelligence tools are disappearing from campus. It showed something narrower: even inside a research university that invests in new technology, people still keep a small set of analog tools within arm’s reach. (today.duke.edu) The closing image is ordinary on purpose: chalk on a board, colored ink on paper, a screwdriver in a pocket. At Duke, those tools are still part of how teaching, note-taking and repair work get done in 2026. (today.duke.edu)
