Electromechanical rolling whiteboard for improving posture and comfort of users in classrooms

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders is high among teachers. Poor posture when writing on whiteboards is considered among the important causes of these disorders. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to evaluate an electromechanical rolling whiteboard for educational environments as an ergonomic intervention. METHODS: Thirty university lecturers volunteered to take part in the study. Participants performed a 5-minute writing task on a regular board and on the newly modified whiteboard in random order. The comfort and effectiveness of the boards and the perceived physical effort and posture of the participants were evaluated and compared by applying the verbal rating scale, Borg's rating of physical exertion scale, and rapid entire body assessment, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 83.2% of participants reported the new whiteboard to be comfortable or more comfortable to use than the regular whiteboard, and 76.6% of them found the new whiteboard to be higher or much higher in effectiveness and usefulness in comparison with the regular whiteboard. The comfort and posture ratings revealed that exertion was significantly less and posture improved while writing on the new board as compared to its counterpart (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The new whiteboard increased user comfort, reduced physical effort, and improved posture, hopefully leading to a decreased number of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.