Whiteboard

This article is about physical whiteboards. For software-based whiteboards, see Whiteboarding. For Microsoft application with the same name, see Microsoft Whiteboard.

A whiteboard (also known as marker board, dry-erase board, dry-wipe board, and pen-board) is a glossy, usually white surface for making non-permanent markings. Whiteboards are analogous to blackboards, but with a smoother surface allowing for rapid marking and erasing of markings on their surface. The popularity of whiteboards increased rapidly in the mid-1990s and they have become a fixture in many offices, meeting rooms, school classrooms, public events and other work environments.

Researcher writing on a whiteboard

Whiteboard with marker and eraser

The term whiteboard is also used metaphorically in reference to features of computer software applications that simulate whiteboards. Such "virtual tech whiteboards" allow one or more people to write or draw images on a simulated canvas. This is a common feature of many virtual meetings, collaborations, and instant messaging applications.

History

A combination between a whiteboard and a cork bulletin board

Original early 1960s ad for "Plasti-slate", the first whiteboard/dry erase board invented by Martin Heit

It has been widely reported that Korean War veteran and photographer Martin Heit and Albert Stallion, an employee at Alliance, a leading flat rolled steel sheet supplier, should be credited with the invention of the whiteboard in the 1950s. Heit and Stallion may have popularized and/or perfected whiteboards, but in reality the history of whiteboards long precedes them. A thorough examination of the invention of whiteboards reveals that the concept was introduced two decades earlier by mechanical engineer Paul F. Born who installed one in a classroom in Elgin, Ill., in 1937.^[1]

Door sign to the offices of Magiboards at The Cut in Waterloo, London, in 1966. Made of enameled steel.

Whiteboards became commercially available in the early 1960s, but did not become widely used until 30 years later. Early whiteboards needed to be wiped with a damp cloth and markers had a tendency to leave marks behind, even after the board was erased.^[2]

In 1974, whiteboards were proposed as additional equipment for Soviet schools.^[3]

Dry-erase markers for whiteboards were invented in 1975.^[4]

Whiteboards began being commonly used by businesses in the early 1990s.^[5] They became more common in classrooms during the 1990s due to concerns over health problems in children with dust allergies and the potential for chalk dust to damage computers. By the late 1990s, about 21 % of American classrooms had converted from chalkboards to whiteboards.^[6]

Types

Adhesive whiteboards

Whiteboard material can be bought in rolls, sheets, and pre-formed boards. Adhesive whiteboards come in either a sheet or a roll and feature a stick back enabling the user to create a custom size board or project with the material. Although adhesive whiteboard material does not come in a thick, hard glass or painted steel plate, the melamine allows for a flexible material while preserving the high-quality whiteboard attributes of other surface materials.^[7] Adhesive whiteboards allow for custom projects such as dry erase wall calendars, whiteboard tables, cupboard grocery lists, indoor games for kids, and more.^[8]

Erasable marker

One type of whiteboard pen (also called whiteboard marker or dry erase marker) was invented by Jerry Woolf of Techform Laboratories and later patented by Pilot Pen in 1975.^[9]

Surface materials

• Melamine

A resin-infused paper which is typically used over a substrate that can range from particle board to MDF (medium density fiberboard). Melamine boards range in quality primarily because of the amount of resin deposited on the base material. Some melamine boards remain clean (no ghosting) for a long time, others less so. Generally, this least expensive type of whiteboard is most commonly found in use in non-institutional applications. They are available in any office supply store. Performance varies widely. These boards are not suitable for heavy use, as in many educational cases, with time the paint erodes and the original surface reappears.^[10]

See also

• Album (Ancient Rome) – a board chalked or painted white, on which public notices were inscribed in black
• Display board
• Flip chart
• Grease pencil
• Interactive whiteboard