Students' use of Web literacy skills and strategies: searching, reading and evaluating Web information

Introduction. This article reports on the adequacy and specific characteristics of 5th grade students' use of Web literacy skills and strategies after completing a programme in which these skills and strategies were the focus of attention. Method. Data were collected from twenty-one student pairs' Web use during six assignments, and recorded with help of Camtasia screen recording software. The students' dialogues as well as their screen behaviour were transcribed. Analysis. The quantitative part of the analysis focused on the extent of students' use of Web strategies and on the adequacy of those strategies, for which we constructed an adequacy index. The qualitative part of the analysis focused on the adequacy of Web strategies. Methods of data reduction, comparison and contrast were applied. Results. The students' strategy use is characterized by differences in adequacy both between and within assignments. This can partly be explained by differences in students' use of searching, reading and evaluating skills and partly by specific patterns underlying their Web strategy use such as flexibility, impulsiveness and a tendency to look only for 'one right answer'. The reflective use of Web literacy skills in particular seems to determine students' adequacy. Abstract