Visually replicating your classroom environment for remote lessons

To help ground students and remind them of being in the classroom, visually replicate your classroom and set it as your video background when teaching remotely or embed into your virtual lessons.

The classroom environment can greatly affect student learning. The classroom is a place where students spend almost every day, so it is important that their physical environment provides security, safety, and joy while also being conducive to learning. Unfortunately, in a remote setting, students can lose many of the positive benefits that accompany the physical setup of a classroom – chief amongst them the feeling of safety that comes along with being in a calm, organized, and familiar environment.

One strategy educators can use to help replicate the physical environment of their classrooms when teaching remotely is to create a virtual classroom background to use for synchronous or recorded lessons. Educators might consider adding images of posters that they would have in the classroom, such as classroom values or recognizable items, such as a bookcase or whiteboard.

Seeing a replica of a familiar classroom can help to provide consistency and the added benefit of culture-building when teaching remotely.