Most educational sites seem to me like research papers adapted to the web, rather than web sites designed to hold research. The interactive promise of the web is that it is truly "web-like", letting users go where they want to, along any number of paths.
When you think about it, this makes even more sense when applied to educational web sites. Everyone is interested in different things, so it doesn't make much sense to make every visitor use the same route, as they would in a traditional research paper. The nature of the web allowed me to set up the site so that people can very easily "choose their own adventure" according to what looks interesting. The hope is that people will have a better learning experience and stay at the site longer knowing they have the power to read about the things they want.
Second, the nature of the topic is extremely interconnected. Energy politics depend on the technologies in use, and development of the technologies depends on the politics. Electrical appliances depend on generators and power lines; all of these things are based on physical principles related to electricity. Because of this there is no inherently "correct" way to teach the subject -- so why make one up and say it's correct? Instead, I hope that visitors will be fascinated by the connections that exist between topics, and willingly learn about areas they might not have wanted to learn about if it was presented in an isolated, linear fashion.
I'd love to get your feedback on this; sign the guestbook (actually, I don't think that works anymore) or send me an email if you have any comments! Thanks for visiting!
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© 2001 Robin Stewart