Environmental Education (EE)

It is easy to get bogged down in the many steps involved in creating a Web site! One of the first actions is to take a step back and think about the larger picture of what you are creating, before you actually begin. Make sure you identify your goal for the site. To do this, it is necessary to:

• Establish a site development team
  • Involve the team in each step of the development process. Try to get internal (for example, EPA/Contractor) and external (for example, teachers, students, curriculum developers) people on your team. Ideally, your team should be composed of both environmental and education professionals.
• Identify a topic
  • Select an environmental issue or specific topic and make sure that it remains the focus of the site.
  • Check the Environmental Kids Club, Student Center, High School Environmental Center, and Teachers portals to determine whether another Web site already addresses your issue or topic. Check also Select EPA On-Line Educational Resources and the Browse Topics page.
  • If your site will not expand on the information already provided about the issue or topic, consider carefully whether you should drop the topic and identify a new one.
• Identify a purpose or need
  • Determine the purpose of your Web site. Is the purpose of your Web site to serve as a portal to other resources, or is it to educate a specific audience about a specific topic?
  • Identify whether there are specific needs within the topic. Start by finding out what already exists on the Web using search engines and other resources.
  • Learn how EPA manages the content of its Web site by reviewing the information provided on EPA's Policy and Implementation Guide for Communications Product Development and Approval page.

Once you have selected an environmental issue and determined the purpose of your site, you're ready to take a closer look at your audience or users' needs.