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WorldWideWhiteboard is a Web-based online collaboration and conferencing tool designed for use in distance education. The WorldWideWhiteboard domain, trademark, and technology are owned and developed by Link-Systems International, Inc. (LSI), a privately held distance-learning software corporation in Tampa, Florida. The WorldWideWhiteboard went live in 1996[1] under the name "NetTutor," although the LSI NetTutor online tutoring service is technically just one implementation of the WorldWideWhiteboard product. Version 3.8 of the WorldWideWhiteboard is in use not only in the current NetTutor online tutoring service, but also in on-campus online tutoring programs, online courses, and collaborative learning environments in the U.S. and around the world. As a Java applet, it can be run on Windows, Mac, and Linux and runs without downloading software. LSI maintains the application and leases both hosted and unhosted access to it. LSI operations — tutoring, product development, online content services, management, and technical support — are housed in the company's Tampa offices.[2]

History

The WorldWideWhiteboard is the first software product developed by Link-Systems International (LSI). LSI was launched in 1995 primarily as a company that converted text-based content like scholarly journals into an SGML format. Incorporated in the State of Florida on February 27, 1996, LSI expanded its mission to the Web-based implementation of a variety of traditionally face-to-face academic activities. The company developed what it called the "Net Tutor" product that included a whiteboard-like interface and, later, a tutoring service that used the whiteboard to conduct online tutoring. For about five years, the software side of this product leased as NetTutor to schools, individual educators, and programs, for example to conduct online tutoring using tutors provided by the institution, as well as for online instruction and office hours. Eventually, LSI re-christened the interface the WorldWideWhiteboard. The company still owns the NetTutor trademark, which refers to the online tutoring it supplies via the WorldWideWhiteboard and using professional tutors it employs.[3]

This history seems to justify the company's claim that it was the first to offer commercially a tool for Web access to a shared, real-time environment with such education-oriented features as subject-specific tool bars. The WorldWideWhiteboard was also adopted as an option available with certain text-books by publishers such as McGraw-Hill,[4] John Wiley and Sons, Pearson, Cengage Learning,[5] and Bedford, Freeman and Worth. The use of the WorldWideWhiteboard by campuses and educational programs to support online environments, give classes, hold faculty office hours and meetings expanded over the next decade.

In 2010, LSI began development of an HTML5 version of the WorldWideWhiteboard. This version has now replaced the earlier, Java-based version and allows for the use of the interface on mobile devices. This is one of several cases where software developers have opted for browser-based development, counting on the future development of HTML5 API's to support audio and video interaction, rather than self-standing phone apps. As of 2013, installations of WorldWideWhiteboard had been converted from Java-based to HTML5-based versions.

As the WorldWideWhiteboard gained more popularity, LSI came to be included in the Inc. 5000 in 2014.[6]

Breadth of use

The WorldWideWhiteboard product was apparently the first successful web collaboration tool in wide use in education. Online whiteboards generally can accommodate a theoretically unlimited number of participants and an instructor in a synchronous, i.e., live interactive session. The WorldWideWhiteboard allows for both audio and up to four video streams, as well as numerous asynchronous modes of interaction.

  • Early research into the WorldWideWhiteboard or NetTutor includes that of educators eager to employ technology in their own teaching. A study at Hampton University in 1999 concluded that the WorldWideWhiteboard could effectively support such activities as online office hours.[7]
  • A virtual whiteboard must provide drawing and symbol-placement tools adequate to the discussion of subjects both by faculty and unskilled learners. A study at Stony Brook University comparing the WorldWideWhiteboard with tools available in Blackboard concluded in 2004 that "[d]espite some flaws, according to our research NetTutor remains the only workable math-friendly e-learning communication system."[8]
  • The WorldWideWhiteboard supported the online tutoring programs of individual universities, such as at Utah Valley State College, in a study describing its use as "[o]ne of the earliest synchronous models for math tutoring]".[9]
  • The WorldWideWhiteboard was used to coordinate education across multiple campuses occurred at the University of Idaho, in a study beginning in 2005[10] — showing increasing acceptance of Web-based online tutoring in the university setting.

Certain of these studies have been cited widely, mainly because of the seminal role of the WorldWideWhiteboard as an educational Web-conferencing tool. (See, for instance, Reushle and Loch in "Conducting a Trial Web Conferencing Software."[11] and the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Quality Enhancement Plan for 2007[12])

This research suggests that all the forms of expression — including video and audio interaction — available on the WorldWideWhiteboard can be successfully used in the classroom.

Other questions raised by scholars include:

  • How comfortable is the average learner with the technology of the WorldWideWhiteboard?[7][10]
  • Does the conversation with an online educator — even a "live" one — fully synthesize the give and take of the classroom environment?[8][9]

While these questions, educators agree, are not fully decided, more recent study suggests that the student-centered dialog possible on the WorldWideWhiteboard encourages learner persistence and success.

Degree of customization

The technology of the WorldWideWhiteboard is not geared to a particular pedagogic or andragogic approach. Its set of activities can therefore be used by any educator for online communication. This also means that questions about how the WorldWideWhiteboard is set up are matters for the institution to decide. LSI has no consultancy component, so that, while figures about usage of the WorldWideWhiteboard can be used to demonstrate how a school's Quality Enhancement Program is working, it is up to the user to create the documentation for this or any other accreditation-related measures.[13]

However, each features of the WorldWideWhiteboard can be customized for use in different institutions and for different subjects. The appearance of the dashboard, symbols displayed on the whiteboard interface can be customized, as well. As an example, fractions and graphing tools may appear on an Algebra class whiteboard, while there may be integral signs as well on the toolbar for a Calculus course.

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.link-systems.com/PGF9ej9CiqIAAHB9YTs_orig/
  2. ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=8420042
  3. ^ http://www.businessweek.com/bwplus/teched/digest29.htm
  4. ^ http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/classware/ala.do?isbn=0073534978&alaid=ala_1650212
  5. ^ http://www.cengage.com/enterprise/partners.html
  6. ^ http://www.inc.com/profile/link-systems-international
  7. ^ a b Verma, A. K., "Using 'NetTutor' for Conducting Online Interactive Office Hours." Proceedings of the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. 12(017). Retrieved March 7, 2011 from http://archives.math.utk.edu/ICTCM/VOL12/C017/paper.pdf
  8. ^ a b Smith, G. and Klein, W. (2004), "Diagrams and math notation in e-learning." International Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and Technology. 35(5) pp. 681-695.
  9. ^ a b Turrentine, P. and MacDonald, L. (2006) "Tutoring Online: Increasing Effectiveness with Best Practices." National Association for Developmental Education Digest. 2(2), Fall 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2011 from http://lacmsig.pbworks.com/f/tutoring%20online.pdf, p. 4
  10. ^ a b Thomas, D., Li, Q., Knott, L., and Li, Z., (2006) "The Structure of Student Dialogue in Web-Assisted Mathematics Courses." Journal of Educational Technology Systems, (2007-2008). 36(4). pp. 415-431. Retrieved March 1, 2011 from http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Paper/13612573.
  11. ^ Resuchle, S. & Loch, B. (2008). "Conducting a Trial Web Conferencing Software." Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 9(3). July, 2008. 19–28. Retrieved May 20, 2011 from http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde31/pdf/Volume9Number3.pdf
  12. ^ Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (2007). "Quality Enhancement Plan: A Formula for Success in College Mathematics." Retrieved May 20, 2011 from http://www.abac.edu/IR/files_fromQEP/Final_QEP/ABAC_QEP_April_2007_htm.htm
  13. ^ "Accreditor Eyes Course Outsourcing," April 10, 2009, Insider Higher Education. Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/10/accredit.

See also

References

  • Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S. & Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning: Effective strategies for moderators. Atwood Publishing, Madison.
  • Hewitt, Beth L. (2010). The online writing conference: a guide for teachers and tutors. Boynton/Cook Heinemann, Portsmouth, NJ.
  • Jacques, D., and Salmon, G (2007) Learning in Groups: A Handbook for on and off line environments, Routledge, London and New York.
  • Kersaint, G., Barber, J., Dogbey, J. and Kephart, D. (2011) "The Effect of Access to an Online Tutorial Service on College Algebra Student Outcomes." Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning. 19(1), February, 2011.
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