ikt-basert norskundervisning i utlandet - Høgskolen i Nesna

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In order to acquire all this knowledge, it is not enough to use only direct oral communication
between the students and the teacher. Students need to read text-books, grammar descriptions,
hand-outs prepared by the teacher, to do exercises, very often to use various additional
materials, such as encyclopaedias, lexicons, and so forth. In most cases it is also a good idea
to make use of the Internet.
Vilnius University has an internet site, devoted to Scandinavian studies, and Vytautas Magnus
University in Kaunas has an internet site, devoted to the studies of the Norwegian language.
While teaching Norwegian language, we have been using the following means of indirect
asynchronous communication over the Internet:
1) simple correspondence via email;
2) Internet forum;
3) list of Frequently Asked Questions and answers to them (FAQ);
4) on-line questionnaire.
1) Usual correspondence via email may be used for most various purposes. Quite often a
teacher would receive excuses from students which know in beforehand that they won't be
able to come to the next lecture, and also various questions, not necessarily dealing only with
Norwegian language. One of the most frequently asked questions before the FAQ was
published on-line, was how one can type Norwegian letters in a word processor (e. g., MS
Word or OpenOffice Writer), if the Norwegian keyboard layout driver is not installed on one's
computer. It happens also quite often that the students send their homework attached to an
email. And maybe the most fascinating way to use this way of communication is
competitions. From time to time on the first page of the site we would announce some
competition which is in one way or another connected to Norway or the Norwegian language.
This might be a task or simply a question. The answers are sent via email, and the student
who is the first to send the correct answer, receives a symbolic prize.
2) The Internet forum (or message board) is primarily intended for the communication
between students. At first I thought that this form for communication was not going to be
popular, since the students have good possibilities to communicate directly, when they meet
each other during the lectures. But it came to show itself that the forum was not totally
unnecessary either. On the one hand, there are several different groups of students of
Norwegian at each of the universities, and they have lectures at different times, so not all
students meet each other directly. On the other hand, it sometimes happens that a student
suddenly thinks of a question, and posts a message on the forum in order not to forget it until
(s)he meets her/his colleagues. And, last, but surely not the least, there are students who
simply do not dear to ask a question directly. They prefer to do this on-line, not revealing
their identity.
3) The FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) is based on my experience as the teacher of
the Norwegian language. I have included typical questions, dealing with the studies of the
Norwegian language, which I have heard both from the students at Vytautas Magnus
University, and other people: private students, colleagues, acquaintances. Such lists (FAQs)
are also called a means of communication, since the questions are not formulated by the
person who answers the questions himself. However, this type of communication shows least
signs of interaction, since the student has no possibility to ask a new question when she/he is
reading such a list. Of course, she/he can send a question via (usual) email, but the question
and the answer to it will only be included into the FAQ-list when the moderator of the site (in
Fredrikke nr. 11, 2005
Organ for FoU-publikasjoner – Høgskolen i Nesna