The IDEAL team is dedicated to assisting the faculty and staff of BGSU in the design and development of web-centric and web-based courses. Listed below are just some of the training, consultation and evaluation services offered to assist the campus community. For faculty and instructors interested in inquiring about a specific service that may not be listed below, please send an email to ideal@bgsu.edu and an IDEAL staff member will let you know if the particular service can be offered.

Instructional design support
The staff at IDEAL can assist faculty and staff in creating an online course that will achieve all of the established course objectives. IDEAL staff members can sit down with an instructor for a one-on-one consultation and decide on a time table that the instructor may use to make sure their course will be ready for the semester they intend to teach. Online instructors are encouraged to meet with members of the IDEAL staff as little or as much as necessary throughout the online course design and development process to assure the creation of a quality online course.

Online Faculty Training Course
What better way to learn how to teach effectively online than to experience it from the student's point of view. Join your colleagues for 3 weeks in learning how to harness the power of online instruction by participating in a completely online workshop via Blackboard and facilitated by a distance learning specialist. Just like most distance courses, this course works around your schedule rather than vice versa. Contact IDEAL for more information about this unique opportunity. Click here to learn more and sign up for the training course.

Blackboard training
Online instructors interested in learning to use Blackboard, the Learner Management System (LMS), can take advantage of one or many of the training workshops offered at IDEAL. For a complete listing of the training opportunities available to BGSU faculty and staff click here

Syllabus Creation
Possibly one of the most important documents for any course, whether it be face-to-face or online, is the syllabus. Faculty and instructors may request that IDEAL either evaluate their online course syllabus or assist in the initial creation prior to the beginning of a term. To simplify the process, IDEAL has created an online syllabus checksheet that online instructors may download and review prior to meeting with a member of the staff.

Copyright information
Instructors with questions pertaining to copyright and fair use laws as they apply to distance education may contact IDEAL to discuss whether course materials are appropriate.

Course appearance and navigation
Establishing the navigation and personality for a course that students find useful and engaging is a major aspect of design. Let the staff at IDEAL help create a course that is both visually appealing and intuitive to the prospective audience.

Audio recording
Audio recording such as that used for narration of presentations or podcasting can be accomplished at IDEAL using state-of-the-art recording equipment.

Video recording
Online instructors wanting to record lectures or guest speakers can take advantage of the video and sound equipment available at IDEAL. We encourage instructors to consult with an instructional designer prior to using video within their online courses because of the drastic file sizes that are a product of video recording. The staff at IDEAL can also help in the conversion of previously recorded footage that may be on a VHS into a digital format that can be used within an online course (assuming copyright concerns have been addressed).

Interactive media
Instructors interested in taking their rich media to the next level may be interested in developing interactive demonstrations of course topics. Use of this service involves communicating as a subject matter expert with one of IDEAL's instructional designers who will develop the finished product in our resource facility.

Interactive presentations
Powerpoint presentations once the typical means of conveying lecture materials to online students causes numerous issues especially for users who do not own the program. IDEAL has the ability to convert those same powerpoints into truly interactive presentations that can include narration, search capabilities and supplemental media.

CD-Rom and DVD creation
Many online instructors are faced with the dilemma of trying to offer more than what they are able to provide in an online classroom. Limitations in technology on the side of the student and the institution cause unnecessary frustration. IDEAL can alleviate some of those limitations by offering instructors the opportunity to produce media on CD or DVD that can be mailed to the student for class use.

Online course review
Once an online course has been developed instructors may request that members of the IDEAL staff review and evaluate the course to determine usability, appropriateness and sound instructional design.

Building quizzes and exams
Creating an online assessment that measures all of the established learning outcomes and course objectives using the online tools provided in Blackboard can be accomplished by consulting with IDEAL's Educational Specialist.