What is the difference between practice driving and lessons?

Practice driving takes place in a private context. The person you drive with can not receive payment for practice driving.
Lessons takes place with a traffic school approved by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. The traffic school where you take lessons receives payment due to extensive requirements for teachers and vehicles.

What is the first thing I need to do to get a driver's license?

Apply for a driver's license for the class you want on vegvesen.no
If you are under 25 years of age, you must take a basic traffic course before you can start with practice driving/lessons.
Contact a traffic school.
If you are over 25 years old, you can start with practice driving/lessons, but you must take a first aid course and "dark driving" before a driving test ("dark driving" can be taken after you have taken your driving test, if the driving test was between 16 of march and 31 of october)
If you already have a driver's license, you can start lessons directly for a new class (for mopeds/motorcycles, the lessons starts with a basic course).

The training is individually adapted, so there is no definitive answer. The more experience you have from before, and the more you practice driving privately, the faster and cheaper it will be.

We recommend that you get your own equipment, but if you do not have, you can borrow for free from us.

Get started as early as possible, preferably before you start training. The theory test is valid for 3 years after you have passed. For mopeds, you can take the theory test at the earliest when you have completed mandatory lessons at the traffic school. You can buy/borrow the theory book, or use for example teoritentamen.no (in english as well).