Green screen technology in the Classroom

The technology is now surprisingly easy to use (see below), but WHY would you want to place yourself or students in front of a different background?

• Purely for the fun of it?
• Help students visualise themselves in a specific environment related to their discipline? Perhaps placing a medical student within a ward round setting and ask them to consider what challenges they may face, and what strengths they bring. Or ask students to submit a poster of them working in a laboratory, annotated with health and safety guidance.
• To help the lecturer explain a complex environment? For example, superimposing a video of the lecturer (or student) explaining rock formations in geology.

There are many possibilities, and the iMovie software on an iPad or iPhone is incredibly easy to use. We used the green-screen as a way of engaging with students as part of Welcome Week, on our stall in the Marquee (see photo above). The protocol we used is available here: Green-screen protocol

Plenty of video tutorials are available to guide you through the steps in more detail, such as this video.

Lastly, you don’t actually need a green screen to do this – will also work with many solid colour backgrounds.

Happy editing!