MESHGuides

Knowledge Building Principles and constructive related actions: A frame to support knowledge building in your classroom

Frank de Jong

Adapted from the work of Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter by Monica Resendes and adapted again by Frank de Jong.

Using Video Supported Collaborative Learning in the classroom in a knowledge building way (Scardamalia and Bereiter 2014) leads to deeper understanding and improved ideas (e.g. knowledge) of students and teachers.

Collaborative learning and knowledge building

We seek to inspire teacher educators, student teachers, teachers at all educational levels and education organisation managers to try using videos to support learning and particularly collaborative learning.

Videos have been used in teaching and learning for decades. However, international studies have discovered that a lot of teachers still do not know how to use videos systematically in teaching and, in particular, in teaching that supports collaborative learning. Just showing a video is not enough to learn from it collaboratively.

This MESHGuide has been written for parents, early years practitioners and professionals working with very young children, to highlight the importance of music in the first five years of life.

The starting point is listening in the womb, where a baby responds to its mother's voice as early as 16 weeks gestation (Shahidullah & Hepper, 1992). The rhythm and intonation experienced by a baby before birth, is the foundation of language.

There are various online forums for Teachers of the Deaf and parents of deaf children, in the UK and other parts of the world.  BATOD manages an email forum.

You are welcome to join the online community here to keep in touch.

To keep in touch with other developments, please register to join the MESHConnect general online community.

Hearing loss can now be diagnosed at birth and studies have shown that when early diagnosis is combined with early fitting of amplification and early support, age appropriate language skills can be achieved (Yoshinaga-Itano, 2006). Early support will take on many different forms. Information collated in this guide about the benefits of music for all areas of development, provides evidence for the use of music in the pre-school years, during a vital time for brain development. It is hoped that music will be an indispensable component of early support.

Research in this field in ongoing. See the research section of this guide for more information.