Heuristics and Web Skills Acquisition in Open Learning Environments

Web literacy refers to the skills and competencies people need in order to function in societies connected through the Internet. Many of the frameworks for understanding the components of web literacy are limited in value because they rely on conceptual definitions. They do not take into consideration the social practices governing the use and writing on the web. Nor do these frameworks take into account the open and participative nature of the Internet. With the aim of moving beyond this theoricist vision, we present an analysis of the relationship between the social practices of a group of university students in open learning environments and the acquisition of web skills. We proposed an alternative approach that is rooted in an understanding of social practices. In order to “operationalize” and facilitate an study of web skills, we relied on a specific type of analysis that allowed us to observe the consistency between the practices observed and the behavior reflected in the heuristic framework of web skills. The main elements of this alternative framework are explained, as is the link between the social practices of the students and the skills acquired. We also discuss other contributions to the field of Web Literacy and to the even larger field of Digital Literacy.