Innovation of a Sliding Whiteboard for Teaching and Learning process

Abstract

The innovation was done at Kenya Medical Training College, Nyeri. The main objectives were to come up with a whiteboard with increased writing surface area to avoid frequent & disruptive rubbing of the written part of a whiteboard during a lecture session and to use a sliding whiteboard as a teaching aid in a classroom setup. The design innovation method was used. The idea was to stack two or three whiteboards and then slide the first board to reveal the second board underneath. Followed by sliding, the second board to reveal the third board underneath. A dummy was developed, followed by the development of the final product. A sliding whiteboard (i.e. Kimwetich sliding board) with increased writing/illustration surface area was developed in March 2022 at a cost of Ksh 35,000 (350 USD). After putting up the first whiteboard ever on campus, students and lecturers were very excited to use it. The lecturers reported that the writing surface area on the whiteboard has surprisingly increased and is very convenient to use a sliding whiteboard. The students said that teaching and learning were more exciting than before. The use of a sliding whiteboard (i.e. Kimwetich sliding board) can easily be replicated in other learning facilities and institutions. The same concept can be used in a blackboard, smart board, 3D screens, and computer PowerPoint slides. Since it offers an opportunity for stimulus variation, teaching and learning was made more enjoyable. Value for money was realized, in that, the normal whiteboard with only two (2) writing surfaces was replaced by the sliding whiteboard with seven (7) writing surfaces. The space for putting up a whiteboard in the classroom walls was reduced hence maximizing space. The whiteboard is simple to use and doesn’t require any training.