Another project was designed to increase students' understanding of local and global environmental issues. In one unit students investigated the pH value in precipitation and soil and the influence of pH on micro-organisms found in a garbage dump. A school in Nordreisa and the Honningsvaag Upper Secondary School piloted a project in remote production mechanics, using computer communication to deliver digitized work instructions from the construction site to the manufacture site. Wibe said that good exam results and low dropout rates attested to the programs' utility. Evaluation of the project, preferably by an external evaluator, and if not, by means of self-evaluation is also necessary, said Wibe, who acknowledges the difficulty of implementing change.
Teachers are usually conservative and are resisting new ideas.
But slowly they are adopting the good ideas. Apprentice fishermen today not only learn the old ways, but are using telecommunications to help navigate ships, protect fisheries and process fish products. Telecommunications are also helping teachers and students communicate over miles of water and rough rocky land. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology was established in 1996, replacing the University of Trondheim. As Norway's center for technological education and research in the natural science, NTNu combines expertise in a wide variety of academic fields with technological advances.