Innovation of the Activeboard EDUC-7101: Diffusion and Integration of Educational Technology Walden University Professor Dr. Amar Almasude Amorea Trew September 30, 2011

NEEDS The needs for the activeboard include: Blackboards used chalk which spreads dust and is messy. Allergies to chalk were also a problem. It also called for daily cleaning of the board and of erasures. Blackboards were replaced with whiteboards that used markers instead of chalk. The markers are expensive, and the boards do need cleaning after almost each use. The overhead projector enables teachers to write on a surface that can be projected onto a wall or a whiteboard. The surface can be wiped off immediately, and the students are able to manipulate objects. The difficulty is that the projected image can be backwards to the surface image. All of these reasons necessitated the need for interactive smart boards.

RESEARCH David Martin and Nancy Knowlton invented the smartboard in Martin started the company Smart Solutions in 1987 to fund and develop the smartboard project. Martin and Knowlton wanted to combine the overhead projector with the whiteboard. Martin and Knowlton wanted to use a touch type screen, a tool that could utilize many computer operations, and wanted it to be easy to use. it.org/2217/ / invents/inventions/inv_co_smart.htm

DEVELOPMENT One problem encountered during the development process is that the whiteboard was first made with melamine which is expensive and difficult to clean, so Martin and Knowlton had to come up with something else to use for their activeboards. Martin and Knowlton wanted to create something “that would allow people to collaborate, in real-time, in an electronically shared space” it.org/2217/ / binvents/inventions/inv_co_smart.htm,

Commercialization Smartboards can be bought globally by going to We currently sell our interactive whiteboards primarily through our reseller network to education, business and government customers. In addition, we currently license our optical touch technologies and sell our optical touch components to manufacturers that seek to bring to market interactive touch products beyond interactive whiteboards.