What is Filamentality?
Filamentality is an interactive, fill-in-the-blank tool that
guides you through picking a topic;
searching the Internet;
gathering good Internet links;
turning them into online learning activities;
part of the Knowledge Network Explorer (KNE) website.
Activity Formats
Hotlist (Begin Exploration) - After finding and categorizing sites, the teacher publishes them on a Web page. The Hotlist is the basic building block for the other activity formats.
Supplements traditional teaching materials.
Avoids students wasting time surfing the Net
More efficient than handing out lists of sites or sharing bookmarks
Easily updated and can be modified to fit students' ability and interests
Eliminates unnecessary photocopying of materials
Example: Web 2.0 for the Classroom Teacher
Multimedia Scrapbook (Download Media) - Collect varied Internet sites and organize them into categories such as photos, maps, quotations, facts, stories, audio clips, video clips, etc. Useful when students already have acquired some knowledge on the topic being studied. Students then pick and choose from the resources, and incorporate them into a project such as a report, newsletter, Web page, slide presentation, etc.
Student centered activity
Students choose an aspect of the topic that personally interests them
Enables students to create more interesting reports and presentations
Students have the opportunity to make use of multimedia tools
Example: A Soccer Scrapbook
Subject Sampler (Connect Affectively) - Teacher finds five or six Web sites on the chosen topic that contain a hands-on element, something to do or listen to or look at. The sites are varied to appeal to a wide range of students. Students are asked to choose one or two sites that most interest them and to interact with them from a personal point of view. Useful to engage many different types of learners
Encourages students to "buy in" to the topic being studied.
Lets students choose resources depending on individual interests and learning style
Triggers an affective interest in the topic to be studied.
Example: My China
Treasure Hunt (Build Knowledge) - Teacher selects ten to fifteen Web sites and designs a question to be answered from each site. The sites and questions guide students to study critical aspects of a topic. Students can then be asked to synthesize what they learn in order to answer a "big question" posed at the end of the Treasure Hunt. Useful to help students learn hard facts about a topic or area of study and to see a bigger picture.
Encourages reading for a specific purpose
Fosters sharing and consensus building among student groups
Asks students to infer and draw conclusions
Examples: Black History Past to Present
WebQuest (Problem Solve) - Using controversial, often current issues, students go beyond fact finding and get deeper into a problematic topic in order to analyze its components and suggest a solution. Prior to dividing into groups, students all learn basic background information about the topic. The teacher collects Web sites and categorizes them according to particular roles, tasks or perspectives. Within small groups, individuals or pairs of students are charged with becoming "experts" on one aspect of the problem by reading and understanding the Web resources for their particular role. When the students come together, they jigsaw in order to share, evaluate and synthesize the information they have read. After that, students complete a real-world activity such as e-mailing congressional representatives or presenting their interpretation to experts on the topic. Useful for helping students get beyond simplistic solutions to complex problems.
Provides up-to-date resources from a variety of perspectives on complex issues
Encourages reading for comprehension and evaluation (critical reading skills)
Requires sharing of information and synthesizing materials from divergent viewpoints
Helps students see that reasonable people differ over solutions to complex problems
Process encourages respect for others' viewpoints
Facilitates written work through which students take a stand and attempt to persuade with a real-world audience
Example: Weather Mania: A 2nd grade Webquest on Weather; First Ladies of the White House
Six Paths to China
Six activities created as models for ways to integrate the World Wide Web into classroom learning. China was chosen as a topic because it exemplifies the kind of thinking the Web is great at fostering.
Who Should Use Filamentality?
Why use Filamentality?
Filamentality is easy to use!! Filamentality Steps Handout
Hotlist Helpers
Antarctica
Baseball
Butterflies
Civil War
Flight
Harry S. Truman
Hurricanes
Math
Missouri
The Moon
Nutrition
Solar System
Telephone
World History
Examples of Filamentality hotlists:
A Hotlist on Resources for Blended Learning
A Hotlist on Online Collaborative Projects
A Hotlist on Hurricanes
Hotlist on Collaborative Proj.
Hotlist on K-12 Video Conferencing Resources
Let's Talk: iPod, iTalk and Podcasting in Education
Using Technology to Support English Language Learners
What's Cookin'? Join Us in the SBC Erate Cafe!
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