WIT Homeroom Module: A Survey of Online Tools

Filamentality 

Filamentality is set of online educational tools used to create Hotlists, Scrapbooks, Treasure Hunts, Subject Samplers, and WebQuests, which are stored on the Filamentality site.  Teachers may create their own activities or find and adapt activities made by other teachers. 

A Hotlist is a list of web-based resources about a specific topic. Filamentality expects no activities or specific expectations for the use of this list.  It works much like a text library intended as enrichment or reinforcement of other activities. 

A Scrapbook is a activity that uses a hotlist or several hotlists organized around categories to create scrapbooks.  Learners use these to create, by downloading or cutting and pasting, collections or scrapbooks that reflect their own interests. 

Treasure Hunts are activities in which students are given a list of questions to answer and and a link to the URLs of websites that have the questions.  Filamentality extends the learning by including a culminating "Big Question," intended so that students can "synthesize what they have learned and shape it into a broader understanding of the big picture." 

A Subject Sampler  is a small set of extremely interesting web sites organized around a main topic.  The aim of the Subject Sampler is to engage learners in interesting things to see, read or do in order to connect them to the chosen topic. 

"A WebQuest presents student groups with a challenging task, scenario, or problem to solve."  Think of this activity as a interdisciplinary co-operative group engaged learning project which requires critical thinking skills and uses web based resources. 

First Activities: 

• Read the introduction to Filamentality. 
• Take the Filamentality Tour.  Note: Use the blue arrows to move through the tour.

• Sample the activities done by others at Filamentality. You may search the contents by learning activity and/or subject.
• Go to the Filamentality main page and explore.