Whiteboard
Encyclopedia
Chalkboard
A chalkboard or blackboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone...
s, allowing 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, and other work environments.
The term whiteboard is also used metaphorically to refer to features of computer software applications that simulate whiteboards. Such "virtual whiteboards" allow one or more people to write or draw images on a simulated canvas. This is a common feature of many virtual meeting, collaboration
Collaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
, and instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
applications. The term whiteboard is also used to refer to interactive whiteboard
Interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
s.
History
A prototype was made and ready to be revealed, when the showcase burned down the night previous to its unveiling along with the whiteboard prototype. Mr. Heit chose to sell the idea to Dry-Mark, who began to introduce them into the education world.
In the mid-1960s, the first whiteboards began to appear on the market. In classrooms, their widespread adoption did not occur until the early 1990s when concern over allergies and other potential health risks posed by chalk dust prompted the replacement of many blackboards with whiteboards.
The first whiteboards were very expensive and were made of a melamine
Melamine resin
Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde is a hard, thermosetting plastic material made from melamine and formaldehyde by polymerization. In its butylated form, it is dissolved in n-butanol and xylene. It is then used to cross-link with alkyd, epoxy, acrylic and polyester resins, used in surface...
surface. It was the "perfect" solution to the chalkboard, except that it "ghosted" (retained residue of erased markings) in a short time and was difficult to keep clean.
Enamel-on-steel magnetic whiteboard has gone through some improvements, such as cost reduction and a reduction in glare caused by the glossy surface. The current trend is porcelain-steel magnetic dry erase boards. These are regarded as the highest quality in the industry. They are now very common in schools, universities, and hospitals.
Glue-backed whiteboard sheets, posters, and rolls are available, permitting any surface, even if irregularly shaped or non-level, to be turned into a whiteboard writing surface.
Clear marker surfaces, made of glass or specially coated acrylic, also appeared on the market about 2007 and were popularized by TV and movies.
Surface materials
There are four types of materials commonly used for whiteboard surfaces:Melamine
Melamine resin
Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde is a hard, thermosetting plastic material made from melamine and formaldehyde by polymerization. In its butylated form, it is dissolved in n-butanol and xylene. It is then used to cross-link with alkyd, epoxy, acrylic and polyester resins, used in surface...
: A resin
Resin
Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...
-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 due to the amount of resin deposited on the base material. Some melamine boards will remain clean (no ghosting) for a long time and others will fail prematurely. Generally these least expensive type of whiteboard and most commonly found in use in non-institutional applications. They are available in any office supply
Office Supply
Office Supply is a New Wave band consisting of three keyboardists. The band has successfully released their debut album Work in Progress, on the independent record label Toaster Records on April 30, 2006...
stores. It is not possible to quantify how well this type of board will perform due to the wide range of quality. The major brands are generally a good bargain, but institutional (schools, hospitals) and heavily used commercial applications are not a good application for melamine boards
Painted steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
or aluminum: Painted steel and aluminum dry erase also have a wide range of quality. Painted surfaces tend to be smoother, which leads to better methods of erasing. The painted surface is generally a multiple layer of coatings made up of a base coat in color (most commonly white) and a clear performance coating that is the dry erase component. Paint varies from electron beam cured coatings to UV and other coating systems. Good commercial grade painted steel or aluminum has excellent dry erase properties and many will able to have permanent marker cleaned from the surface. Any coated surface is susceptible to scratching. Painted steel surfaces are magnetic and allow the use of magnets. Painted aluminum surfaces are rarely used as a base for whiteboards as they are not magnetic and are more expensive than steel. Painted steel whiteboards are most commonly used for custom printed whiteboards. These products are used as tracking boards, patient information boards and tournament and training boards.
Hardcoat laminate: Every laminate manufacturer makes a dry erase board or laminate. Here again the performance varies over a wide range depending on the amount of resin used in the manufacturer. Basically this category primarily uses melamine as its dry erase performance coat and therefore falls into the melamine universe. Depending on the manufacturer (and the price) these laminate often are less porous and highly resistant to staining. Less common than other whiteboard surfaces, because they usually are used in combination with something else (a cabinet, doors or table tops for example). (this statement applies to Porcelain steel which is the only lifetime warranty available on the market)
Porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
, enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
-on-steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
: Ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
(glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
) fired onto a steel surface in a kiln. They are the most durable surfaces and most carry a lifetime warranty
Warranty
In business and legal transactions, a warranty is an assurance by one party to the other party that specific facts or conditions are true or will happen; the other party is permitted to rely on that assurance and seek some type of remedy if it is not true or followed.In real estate transactions, a...
. They are very common in high traffic industrial settings. Highly scratch-resistant, although materials harder than glass (like diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
) can scratch them. They do not absorb dry erase or permanent marker ink. They allow the use of magnets. Since it is glass, the porcelain surface can be cleaned with any non-abrasive cleaner, which must then be rinsed off with water to prevent smearing. Permanent marker can be removed by writing over it with a dry-erase marker and erasing it. Some porcelain surfaces provide LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
credit in new construction.
Advantages
- Whiteboard ink markings are less susceptible to external factors, such as water, because the ink adheres in a different manner than does chalk to a chalkboard. Using markers does not generate the dust that comes from using and erasing chalk, allowing their use in areas containing dust-sensitive equipment. Some who are allergic to chalkChalkChalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
or are asthmatic use whiteboards as an alternative. - A whiteboard can be used as the projecting medium for an overhead or video projectorVideo projectorA video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...
. This allows the person giving the presentation to fill in blanks, edit, underline and make comments by writing directly onto the whiteboard, which in turn shows through the projected image. Proper dry wipe boards are high gloss to enable the dry marker ink to be wiped off easily and high gloss surfaces will reflect the projector light, creating a so called "hot spot", a glare back from the board. Semi-matte whiteboards are better suited for projection but more difficult to dry wipe clean. - A whiteboard pen is easier than chalk to hold and write with. This can benefit persons with limited mobility in their hands, such as those affected by diseases such as arthritisArthritisArthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
or systemic lupus erythematosusSystemic lupus erythematosusSystemic lupus erythematosus , often abbreviated to SLE or lupus, is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage...
. In addition, marking on a whiteboard takes less time, effort, and pressure than marking on a chalkboard. - Like chalkboardChalkboardA chalkboard or blackboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone...
s, whiteboards help to save paper. - When compared to a chalkboardChalkboardA chalkboard or blackboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone...
a whiteboard can have significantly more colors because markers have a greater range of color than chalk (sidewalk chalkSidewalk chalkSidewalk chalk are typically large colored sticks of calcium sulfate mostly used for drawing on pavement or cement sidewalk. It is sometimes used to draw a four square court or a hopscotch board.-Use:...
).
Disadvantages
- Only special whiteboard markers are suitable for use on whiteboards. Using other markers that resemble whiteboard markers but contain the wrong kind of ink creates markings that are hard or impossible to remove, depending on the surface type (see surface materials above). However, some techniques have been developed, which include filling over them using a marker with the right type of removable ink and then erasing the ink; wiping the marks with acetoneAcetoneAcetone is the organic compound with the formula 2CO, a colorless, mobile, flammable liquid, the simplest example of the ketones.Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory...
or alcoholAlcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; or by using board cleaning sprays or pre packaged wipes commercially available from the whiteboard manufacturers. - The white background can cause contrast problems for people with vision impairment. Additionally, whiteboards cause some problems for those who write left-handed as many write with their hand curved around the pen, therefore causing their hand to drag across the board, smearing the marker strokes previously made. Similarly, right-handed people have this problem with right-to-left languages, such as the very "curvy" and cursive ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
abjadAbjadAn abjad is a type of writing system in which each symbol always or usually stands for a consonant; the reader must supply the appropriate vowel....
, and to a lesser extent with the Hebrew abjad (due to the square and differentiated shape of the letters). This limitation is also present with a chalkboardChalkboardA chalkboard or blackboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone...
. - Markers on whiteboards are generally less pressure sensitive than chalk, making it harder to draw heavier/lighter lines
- Whiteboard markersMarker penthumb|MarkerA marker pen, marking pen, felt-tip pen, flow or marker, is a pen which has its own ink-source, and usually a tip made of a porous, pressed fibres; such as felt or nylon.-Permanent marker:...
are often sealed in opaque plastics and difficult to determine the amount of ink remaining, only fading in color intensity with use. Like other contemporary markers, they can dry out with if the writing tip is uncapped for long periods of time. - Whiteboard markers often have a pungent and strong odor (depending on brand and color) whereas chalk has a mild smell mainly from the chalk dust.
- When writing on a vertical surface, most people incline markers upwards, however this impedes the flow of ink which is dependent on gravity.