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A whiteboard (also known by the terms 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
blackboard
A blackboard (also known as a chalkboard) is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of ...
s, 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, and other work environments.
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 meeting,
collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
, and
instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
applications. The term ''whiteboard'' is also used to refer to
interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform tasks ...
s.
History
![Plasti-slate 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Plasti-slate_001.jpg)
Photographer Martin Heit and Alliance employee Albert Stallion have been credited with the invention of the whiteboard.
![Magiboards 1966 Door Sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Magiboards_1966_Door_Sign.JPG)
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 erasing the board.
Dry-erase markers for whiteboards were invented in 1975.
Whiteboards began being commonly used by businesses in the early 1990s. 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
chalkboard
A blackboard (also known as a chalkboard) is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of ...
s to whiteboards.
Types
The first whiteboards were very expensive and were made of an enameled steel. Cheaper versions were then produced, including laminated chipboard, high-pressure laminates and steel boards with a matte-finished or glossy white, usually polyester or acrylic, coating. Enameled whiteboards, also referred to as porcelain and sometimes glass boards, have the advantage that markings can be erased completely; other materials tend to become stained over time. Enameled boards are more expensive and less used in commercial environments, but in more demanding environments with heavier use, such as educational establishments, porcelain boards are considered superior.
Other types of dry marker boards are also available, such as high gloss vinyl and
coated paper
Coated paper (also known as enamel paper, gloss paper, and thin paper) is paper that has been coated by a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness, or reduced ink absor ...
, which can be rolled up, high-density two-part high gloss paints, glass and coated acrylics and polypropylene magic whiteboards which use static electricity to cling to walls, windows, and doors.
Clear marker surfaces, made of glass (matte or glossy) or specially coated acrylic, became available around the mid-2000s. They are generally manufactured from technical glass, e.g. for monitor screen filters, which is optically coated.
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.
Adhesive whiteboards allow for custom projects such as dry erase wall calendars, whiteboard tables, cupboard grocery lists, indoor games for kids, and more.
Erasable marker
One type of whiteboard pen (also called a
whiteboard marker
A marker pen, fine liner, marking pen, felt-tip pen, felt pen, flow marker, sign pen (in South Korea), vivid (in New Zealand), texta (in Australia), sketch pen (in South Asia) or koki (in South Africa), is a pen which has its own ink source a ...
or dry erase marker) was invented by Jerry Woolf of Techform Laboratories and later patented by
Pilot Pen in 1975. It is a non-permanent marker and uses an erasable ink that adheres to the writing surface without binding to or being absorbed by it. Applications range from temporary writing with acetate sheets (for use with overhead projectors) to whiteboards and similar glossy surfaces. The erasable ink does not contain the toxic chemical compounds
xylene
In organic chemistry, xylene or xylol (; IUPAC name: dimethylbenzene) are any of three organic compounds with the formula . They are derived from the substitution of two hydrogen atoms with methyl groups in a benzene ring; which hydrogens are sub ...
and/or
toluene
Toluene (), also known as toluol (), is a substituted aromatic hydrocarbon. It is a colorless, water-insoluble liquid with the smell associated with paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, consisting of a methyl group (CH3) at ...
, unlike permanent markers.
Surface materials
There are six types of materials commonly used for whiteboard surfaces:
*
Melamine
Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 67% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives have fire retardant properties due t ...
:: A
resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...
-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
Office supplies are consumables and equipment regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, by individuals engaged in written communications, recordkeeping or bookkeeping, janitorial and cleaning, and for storage of supplies ...
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.
* Steel 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 be 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
:: Here again the performance varies over a wide range depending on the amount of resin used in the manufacturer. This category primarily uses melamine as its dry erase performance coat. Depending on the manufacturer (and the price) these laminates 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 () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
,
enamel-on-steel
::
Ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
fired onto a steel surface in a kiln. They are the most durable surfaces, and most carry a lifetime
warranty
In contract law, a warranty is a promise which is not a condition of the contract or an innominate term: (1) it is a term "not going to the root of the contract",Hogg M. (2011). ''Promises and Contract Law: Comparative Perspectives''p. 48 Cambrid ...
. They are very common in heavy-use industrial settings. They are highly scratch-resistant, although materials harder than glass, such as diamond, can scratch them. They do not absorb dry erase or permanent marker ink. They allow the use of
magnets
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
. The surface can be cleaned with any non-abrasive cleaner suitable for porcelain, then rinsed off with water to prevent smearing. Permanent marker can be removed using a polar solvent such as ethanol, isopropanol or acetone, or by writing over it with a dry-erase marker and erasing it.
*
Tempered glass
Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the interior into tension. ...
:: Tempered glass is easier to erase. Most tempered glass white boards have no frame.
*
Polypropylene
Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene.
Polypropylene
belongs to the group of polyolefins and ...
film
:: Polypropylene film is temporary and uses
static electricity
Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material or between materials. The charge remains until it is able to move away by means of an electric current or electrical discharge. Static electricity is na ...
to cling to existing surfaces. It works with dry whiteboard markers and wipes. Whiteboards are reusable and materials are recyclable.
See also
*
Display board
A display board, also known as poster board, is a board-shaped material that is rigid and strong enough to stand on its own, and generally used paper or other materials affixed to it. Along with quad charts, display boards were an early form of fa ...
*
Interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform tasks ...
*
Grease pencil
The grease pencil, a wax writing tool also known as a wax pencil, china marker, or chinagraph pencil (especially in the United Kingdom), is a writing implement made of hardened colored wax and is useful for marking on hard, glossy non-porous surf ...
*
Flip chart
A flip chart is a stationery item consisting of a pad of large paper sheets. It is typically fixed to the upper edge of a whiteboard, or supported on a tripod or four-legged easel. Such charts are commonly used for presentations.
Forms
Although ...
*
Album (Ancient Rome) An ''album'' (Latin: ''albus'', "white"), in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees, edicts and other public notices were inscribed in black.
History
The '' Annales Maximi'' of the '' Pontifex Maximus'', the annual edi ...
, a board chalked or painted white, on which public notices were inscribed in black
References
External links
* {{Commons category inline, Whiteboards
Educational devices
Office equipment
Writing media