If you’re planning on videoconferencing, one of the things you might want to do is construct a screen so that students won’t be able to see the piles of laundry or undone grading behind you, and if you live with somebody (a spouse, kids, feral dingos), they won’t distract students by walking behind you. So here are step-by-step instructions for making an improvised greenscreen for about $25 plus the cost of a bedsheet. The only tool you need is a saw.

First, you’ll need to get some supplies. I used 1″ PVC, available at any hardware store. You’ll need four 10 foot segments. You’ll also need some connectors: two elbows and two T-junctions. Finally (and optionally) you can get some end caps:

Now cut 3 foot segments off the end of four of the PVC pipes.

If you got the end caps, cap one end.

Now attach two of these to the opposite ends of the “T” junctions.

Remember you cut 3 feet off of a 10 foot pipe? That leaves 7 feet. Take one of the 7-foot pipes and put elbows on both ends. (The picture shows two of the 7-foot pipes, but don’t join them yet)

Now take the (unelbowed) 7-foot pipes and join them to the T junctions. These will give you the uprights:

Now for the only difficult part: while you can probably do this on your own, with a chair and some choice expletives, it’s probably easier if you get someone to help. If you’re living with somebody, you can draft them (the feral dingos aren’t so helpful; I recommend the high school age kid who’s taller than you…).

Take the bar with the two elbows, and attach it to the two uprights. Then hang a curtain over the top:

And voila (random professor not included)! You now have a greenscreen and can webcast like the best of us.