Academic literature on the topic 'Trøndelag teater'

Abstract This article illuminates factors predicting students’ intention to leave upper secondary school. The research is anchored in an ecological theoretical perspective that considers dropout as a multifaceted phenomenon that culminates in the decision to leave school. Based on this, we have used a longitudinal research design to investigate to what extent factors related to students’ experiences predict their intention to leave school early. The sample in this study comprises 1695 students from upper secondary schools in the county of Trøndelag in Norway. We ran descriptive analyses, correlations and hierarchical regression to analyse our data. In the stepwise causal modelling, the independent variables were placed in the same order as the hypotheses were formulated. This enabled us to test each of the independent variables to explain how much variance there was in the dependent variable (intention to leave) beyond those entered in the previous steps. The results show that the students’ grades from elementary school, parental and teacher support and school engagement in upper secondary school are important explanatory factors leading to dropout. Loneliness at secondary school and students’ ability to cope with stressful life events seem to be the two most important predictive factors in relation to the students’ thoughts about leaving.

By Yngve Troye NordkvelleEditorThis issue of Seminar.net offers four different experiences on how students can gain from using educational technologies. In the article "Adopting digital skills in an international project in teacher education", associate professor Hugo Nordseth of Nord-Trøndelag University College present the aims of a project aimed at making students in teacher training able to collaborate across national borders and contexts. The project demonstrates the feasibility of training students to use new technologies that offer opportunities for learning. Nordseth emphasizes the importance of proper training in the selected tools.Professor Ragnhild Nilsen, of the University of Tromsø, presents her article "Digital Network as a Learning Tool for Health Sciences Students", as an example from studies in health. She presents how an online learning module for health sciences students with different educational backgrounds was implemented at the University of Tromsø (UiT). The intention was to improve communication and cooperation abilities across professional boundaries. The purpose of this article is to examine how participation in a joint, web-based course can be a didactic tool that helps health sciences students learn from one another by means of collaboration. Yvonne Fritze and Yngve Troye Nordkvelle, both editors of the journal present their article "Online dating and education". The research was carried out in their home institution, Lillehammer University College.Taking its inspiration from Luhmann's communication theory, this article looks at online dating from the perspective of teaching and education. The findings of this project indicate that students do use netdating as an experience and that quite a few of them find this valuable for their own communicative skills. The article explores those features of online dating characteristic of distance dialogue, and discusses the extent to which these can be transferred to communication in the teaching context. The article was first presented in a book published in Danish (Michael Paulsen & Lars Qvortrup (ed.) (2007) Luhmann og dannelse, København: Unge Pædagoger). This version provides extended discussions of the implications for flexible education. In the final article, with the title "Developing Contextual Knowledge Arenas in the Global Classroom", associate professor Siv Oltedal of Nordland University, discuss challenges in the development of contextual knowledge arenas by focusing on how the contextual perspective is brought into a masters program in social work. She explores the development of different knowledge areas and how they offer different learning opportunities for a group of international students.

Yngve Nordkvelle, editorIn this issue we have collected four papers from Norwegian authors. The papers have been guest edited by associate professor Hugo Nordseth of North-Trøndelag University College. The authors represent the new generation of teachers in higher education who follow up on what new technologies have to offer for teaching and learning in higher education. Gard B. Jenset presents a study which investigates attitudes among student teachers toward using electronic resources in teaching. Two groups of student teachers, were asked to assess their skills and attitudes. Jenset introduced them to an example of how open-source, Web-based data and software could be used in teaching English culture and history. The students apporved of the experiment, but Jenset concludes that teacher education contributes little to improve their skills with technology. Cecilie Asting and Anne Swanberg discuss how to manage feedback and responses to students in large scale classes. Well planned teaching and learning activities can invite students to a variety of feedback activities. The experiements described gives insights into have such initiatives can be improved and succeed.Sven Åke Bjørke discuss the need to be aware of classifications of knowledge when curricula and learning activities are designed. The author argues for the entire sector to jump directly to "state of the art" of e-learning. To pursue this, he makes a quest for investment in teacher training in higher education, rather than focusing on technology. Hege Emma Rimmereide, Barbara Blair and Jon Hoem describe a project involving the use of wiki. Wiki Storyline is a web-based Storyline using wikis, and which demands an interdisciplinary approach to second language teaching. The Storyline creates motivation for written and oral communication. The authors have used Wiki Storyline in two in-service courses and the study presents a comparative analysis of technical solutions as well as pedagogical potentials explored in the two courses. They also employed Etherpad for collaborative writing and as an arena for reflection.Dr. Mamtuz Ahmad discusses a vital problem of many emerging economies, namely the issue of literacy for all. As he states, literacy is an instrument of stability and a vehicle for development. Pakistan is a country which faces the problem of illiteracy. It is a grim picture he draws, and he analyses the steps that has been taken by the government to meet the real needs.Literacy is an instrument of stability within and among countries and thus may prove an indispensable means of effective participation in the societies and (the) economies of today’s world. Eradication of illiteracy from the world is an important agenda of UNESCO, and one of the six goals of Dakar Framework of Action on Education for All. Illiteracy is also a major problem in Pakistan. The picture of illiteracy in Pakistan is grim, and although successive governments have announced various programmes to promote literacy the situation is still poor because of various political, social, economic and cultural obstacles. To sum up, it can be said that literacy is a skill necessary to acquire or transmit (information) to others. It is a means not an end in itself. Keeping in view the gravity of the situation of literacy and basic education in the country, Pakistan has completed/implemented a number of actions/activities for broad-based consultations with principal actors of EFA. Furthermore, the Government of Pakistan has accomplished the preparation of provincial and national plans of action and resource mobilization for EFA planning. This paper therefore examines the efforts to decrease illiteracy in Pakistan, a signatory of the worldwide EFA movement.

Seminar.net reached 100 000 unique visitors in October 2010 after nearly six years on the web. Since its inception, a total number of 64 articles have been published, and the site has been visited 3000 times each month at its most. A journal needs to publish good articles. Judging by the increasing number of readers, the readers seem to find our articles to be relevant, readable and contributing to the global discourse. The e-journal format offers opportunities to employ the media to its full potential. A unique feature of the e-journal is to communicate in other media than textual. Seminar.net has for a long time been alone on the academic marked in the field of presenting an abstract of the paper in video format. The assumption is that a short introduction presented on a video makes the reader more interested and that he/she reads the paper with more enthusiasm. On the other hand, journal readers are conservative, and often fail to appreciate the value of visual communication other than the textual. It will be a challenge to continue to develop the e-journal genre in light of the need to balance reader conservatism with exploring the opportunities offered by multimedia-publishing.The second feature of dealing with an e-journal is to offer an alternative voice. Critique and reappraisal in social science is highly valued and seen as a vital condition for renewal and progress in the academic community. Paper journals are often seen as conservative and in favour of “normal” science in Thomas Kuhn’s terms. The “gatekeepers” are piled up in their editorial boards. E-journals subscribing to an Open Access Policy have a reputation of the opposite. E-journals have made it easier to express critical ideas and represent marginalised viewpoints in main stream science.Seminar.net has readers in 150 countries, from all continents, and with a majority of readers from USA and India, but has also significant number of readers from England, Australia, The Philippines, Canada, Indonesia and Germany. We believe this demonstrates the necessity of an international journal that raises issues with wide interest.In this issue, we present five articles. The first four has been presented at an annual conference for the Network University of Norway, and then gone through a proper peer-review for publication in this journal. The first article, “Promoting the Good e-Teacher: Didactical choices when developing e-pedagogical Competences”, by Grete Oline Hole, Anne Karin Larsen and Jon Hoem, from the Bergen University College, explains how a blended e-pedagogy course for teachers of Higher Education teachers has been developed. The course evolved from the experiences of teaching international online courses for European BA students. The students plan their own courses in accordance with the stages of becoming an e-learner. Evaluations by students have demonstrated that this hands-on training course can help students attain the necessary competences needed to be skilled e-teachers. This paper demonstrates a concern that many higher education institutions hold for developing teaching skills in on-line or e-learning. Private institutions develop internal training, such as the University of Phoenix, and some actors plan to produce courses for the commercial market[1].Bjørn Klefstad, Geir Maribu, Svend Andreas Horgen and Thorleif Hjeltnes, from the Sør-Trøndelag University College present an article called: “Learning outcomes and a taxonomy as a starting point for creating digital multiple-choice tests”. They make the case for the use of multiple-choice tests for both formative and summative purposes. They regard the making of valid and reliable tests to be challenging, but they find Bloom’s taxonomy being a useful framework for assessment in higher education and fruitful for developing “learning outcomes”. Based on an analysis of several digital tests they examine to what degree learning outcomes and levels are reflected in the questions of each test they have developed and suggest functionalities for a future test tool to support an improved design process.Hugo Nordseth, Sonja Ekker and Robin Munkvold of Nord-Trøndelag University College present their joint article: “Tools for peer assessment in an e-learning environment”. They explore the functionalities of tools for peer assessment within the LMS used for two different topics taught at their college, in combination with a set of rubrics and a tool called “Six Thinking Hats”. They report that using these in combination stimulate students to write better assignments and provide a deeper understanding of the subjects taught.Arvid Staupe of The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, argues in his article “Experiences from Blended Learning, Net-based Learning and Mind Tools” that in spite of a strong increase in the number of students attending classes, it is possible to improve the quality of the course when blended teaching approaches are employed, using net-based learning material and mind tools, and founded firmly on an educational philosophy.The last article, by Ana Laws, of the University of Bergen, is about “Digital Storytelling as an emerging documentary form”. She claims that digital storytelling can be fruitfully studied using concepts and perspectives from documentary theory. She offers two definitions of digital storytelling and compares to how documentary filmmaking has been characterized. She further argues that contemporary discussions in the field of documentary theory are applicable to the ongoing theorising of “Digital storytelling” and therefore might benefit from the reflections on authorial responsibility and claims of realism and truthfulness in this area.[1] http://www.insidehighered.com/news/focus/technology/recent/pearson (accessed Nov.16.2010)