Energy Classroom

Xcel Energy

Learn About Energy and Conservation!

Xcel Energy created Energy Classroom to provide interactive educational materials about energy and conservation for teachers and students across its national market. It offers video stories, games, worksheets, experiments, and “behind the scenes” tours of power plants and wind farms.

Energy Classroom was based on research with teachers and content specialists, who assessed each stage of development. The site has been periodically updated over almost a 15-year period.

MY ROLES
- UX/UI Designer
- Creative Director
- Content Development

KEY BUSINESS GOALS
- Reach teachers and students within Xcel Energy’s national market.
- Lower costs compared to previous print distribution.
- Leverage existing Xcel Energy video.
- Base activities on research done with teachers.
- Design education for grades 3 to 5.
- Support teachers with classroom materials.

KEY USER GOALS
- Explore energy topics through video stories.
- Dig deeper into each topic with supporting photos and infographics.
- Identify with school-age video “hosts”.

RESULTS
- Increased Xcel Energy’s educational audience.
- Reduced distribution costs over previous print mailing.
- Praised by teachers and students.
- Won multiple awards.
- Tours and infographics created for this project have been used as educational materials in other areas of Xcel Energy.

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EXTERNAL LINKS

Energy Classroom
Xcel Energy

Energy Classroom uses a visual menu at the home page. In the right column, “Do You Know?” facts are randomly presented when a page reloads.

The Power Sources and Conversation topics include video stories. Related video clips tell the story from different perspectives. These stories and the following tours were developed in Flash, which was the most effective approach at the time.

The Power Plant topic features a video tour. With two energetic hosts, you can visit a coal plant to see how electricity is made. Look into a hot boiler that is 15 stories tall, see how emissions are scrubbed, and climb more than 600 feet to the top of the power stack.

The Clean Energy video tour compares fossil and renewable energy sources and explores green technologies. It features two enthusiastic hosts who explore questions about energy and the environment. The tour offers a “whole planet” perspective, emphasizing that our actions are connected and interdependent.

The Wind Farm Tour is the first tour developed in HTML5, allowing it to be used on mobile devices. With two eager hosts, you can visit a wind farm, climb to the top of a wind turbine, and explore the science and technology behind wind energy.

Some topics include interactive games like this Power Puzzle. It challenges you to assemble the parts you need to create different kinds of energy.

Each topic in Energy Classroom is supported with downloadable pdf-based worksheets, activities, and experiments. These are designed for teachers and their classrooms.

For each Energy Classroom topic, I have designed a range of infographics, illustrations, and diagrams to visualize systems and concepts.

Over its lifecycle, the entire Energy Classroom site has been periodically updated to reflect changes in Xcel Energy’s branding standards.