The infusion and diffusion of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) has attracted considerable interest in educational contexts over the past years. However, research to date has been controversial with regard to the effectiveness of IWB-based instruction on cognitive learning outcomes. This study identified empirical publications that examine students' cognitive learning outcomes and applied a meta-analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of IWB-based instructions. A systematic database search and literature review identified 23 high-quality, peer-reviewed journal articles that met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.3 software; the calculated effect size showed that the IWB-based instruction can positively influence students' cognitive learning outcomes, compared to traditional lecture-based lectures. A moderator variable analysis suggests that the pedagogical approach and the year of publication significantly moderate the effectiveness of IWB-based instruction. These results indicate that the IWB-based instruction has matured overtime after several years of application in educational environments, helping students improve their cognitive learning across interdisciplinary research reports. Furthermore, the IWB-based instruction was most effective when instructors applied an independent learning approach, suggesting that IWB-based instruction can be useful for personalized student learning.