Ela Sjølie

Ela Sjølie is a Professor of Education Sciences and Head of the Expert Teams (EiT) section at the Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, NTNU. She holds a PhD from NTNU (2014) and has extensive experience in higher education pedagogy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and organizational learning. Her research focuses on team-based learning, virtual collaboration, and practice architectures in education.

Education Background:

• PhD in Education (NTNU, 2014)
• MSc in Electrical Engineering (University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 1997)

Research Interests: Explores how interdisciplinary teams function in virtual environments, emphasizing psychological safety, feedback mechanisms, and sociability metrics. Her work bridges educational theory with practical implementation, particularly in transitioning to online learning during crises. Key themes include collaborative learning spaces, teacher training, and student agency in self-organizing teams.

Article Trends (2020–2024): Recent work emphasizes virtual team dynamics, pandemic-era educational adaptations, and interdisciplinary collaboration frameworks. Publications highlight methodologies for measuring sociability in digital learning environments and analyzing practice architectures affecting student development.

Advising & Grants: Leads projects on team skills training and real-time facilitation. Collaborates internationally on initiatives like the Experts in Teams Network. Involved in Norwegian and EU-funded research on educational praxis and crisis response in higher education.

Labs/Teams: Directs the Expert Teams (EiT) research group, focusing on interdisciplinary project-based learning and virtual collaboration strategies.