Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

128 Studying online 
with trying to replace lots of colours in your normal back-
ground. However, there are complications. Green screens need 
to be smooth and evenly lit. Otherwise shadows develop, and 
the software doesn’t detect the appropriate colour, so that area 
is not replaced. If you don’t have excellent lighting for the green 
screen itself, it is likely that your replacement background im-
age will break up in places, making it distracting for your fellow 
students. So, even though green screens can be bought relatively 
cheaply, they have to be set up properly. Tat will take you ad-
ditional time and efort, which is probably not worth it for ev-
eryday tutorial sessions. However, it could be worthwhile using 
a green screen when you have to record presentations for which 
you are being assessed. Te use of a green screen can make you 
look more professional. Plus, you don’t have to buy a profession-
al green screen. Tese days I have a pop-up green screen that 
I can roll up behind me. However, before that, I used to have 
a green sheet which I pinned to the ceiling when I needed it. 
Tat cost just a few pounds and was efective. Te only reason 
I changed to the pop-up screen was for portability so that I could 
make videos anywhere, rather than at my desk. If you want a 
green screen behind you to eliminate a background you do not 
want others to see, then simple things such as a green sheet may 
be all you need. 
background sounds 
It isn’t just your video background that can be distracting to your 
fellow students. Background noises can also be a problem. Tese 
can be reduced by getting a separate microphone that is closer 
to you, as explained in Chapter 2. A headset with a boom micro-
phone can help reduce background sounds, but it will not get rid 
of everything. Although background images can be distracting, 
background sounds may be more of a problem for other students 
on the conference call with you. It can make students strain to 
hear what you are saying if the background noise distracts them 
(Yankelovich et al., 2006). For example, my ofce at home is right 

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