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Whiteboard

Surface for nonpermanent markings

  • 4 min read
  • 2 chapters
NCTR Intern Claire Boyle, is a graduate student from Florida State University. Practical, hands-on laboratory work is important for all college students who want to become scientists—but, for many of
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Public domain

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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

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. At the same time Esmond Hellerman in the UK also invented the whiteboard using adhesive to cover existing blackboards. 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 Avery D. Butler who installed one in a classroom in Elgin, Ill., in 1937.

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.

In 1974, whiteboards were proposed as additional equipment for Soviet schools.

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 chalkboards to whiteboards.

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