Distance learning backdrop ideas for online calls

Tired of that blank wall behind you during online calls? Or are you someone who scrambles to tidy up your background before an online call to make sure it looks presentable? Backdrops can actually be a lot of fun and can make your online lessons with your students that extra bit more special too!

Why do you need backdrops for your online calls anyway:

With more lessons being delivered remotely via online calls such as Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet, you and your students might be missing the special decor from your classroom. Those personal touches and pops of colour you use to decorate your classroom, help reflect your personality. It's not particularly inspiring for your students to be looking at a blank wall behind you while you're talking to your class, but you're certainly not alone if you haven’t had a chance to think about this. It's hard to know where to begin, and many wouldn’t have even considered creating special backgrounds for online lessons.

It’s worth considering though if you have some time this summer, as students love seeing your personal touches in your classroom decor. So keep reading to learn some fun, easy, and cost-effective ways that you can add the element of your personality into your online calls through decor that is easily interchangeable to keep things fresh for your students.

Have fun with backdrops for your online distance learning lessons:

There are so many different options for backdrop ideas for your online lessons, and they don't have to be complicated or challenging to set up. You could change them up seasonally or random times just to keep things fresh for your students!

Distance learning backdrops don’t have to cost you a fortune:

Who doesn’t love cozy coffee shops? Now you can easily bring those hygge vibes to your own online classroom! If you would like some free bunting in a cozy coffee shop theme, you can download a sample here. The bunting is really easy to use: you just add your own text or letters to the page. They can be resized to fit the space that you have behind you perfectly, and the full set of coffee shop bunting contains 26 unique styles. Team it with your own favourite hot beverage as you teach, and hello Starbucks! You could also amp up the cozy hygge vibes with these wooden or slate calendars to highlight important dates coming up for your class.

Another way to decorate that blank wall behind you is by putting up photos of your class! You can find pictures that you have taken together in the past, or perhaps pictures that they sent through especially for your wall. You can then display them proudly behind you, and that will help your students feel really involved in the classroom community. You can even have a different student featured every day for fun! You may find this also encourages regular attendance to your online classes, as it’s exciting for them to see who is going to be featured on your wall that day!

Another idea is to use technology to help you with your backgrounds. You could add a virtual background if you are using Zoom, Teams or Meet, and you could even use a real photograph of your classroom for that familiarity. Alternatively, have fun with themed virtual backgrounds! If you’re teaching about the Egyptians, why not place yourself in front of the Pyramids for example? The world is literally your oyster!

And finally, for you DIY types who like getting hands-on, you could dress up your background very easily with props such as fairy lights! Or what about different scarves and have them pinned up or draped in different places and positions? and if you want to get really fancy, you can actually purchase special backdrops that are used in photography, that look exceptional. They’re simply fabric that you can pin up on your wall making it easy to change the background frequently to keep things interesting for your students. Here are some of my favourites from Amazon: affiliate links included below:

To conclude:

Changing up your background for your online classes is a fun way to keep things fresh and interesting for your students, and helps keep that personal touch in your lessons when you're not able to be physically close. As you can see, it doesn't have to be expensive or complicated: it's really easy to change things up and personalize it to your class!

Download the free cozy Coffee Shop bunting for your online call backdrop:

Reminder, if you'd like to try out the free coffee shop bunting for your backdrops, you can download them for free below: