Learning/WebLiteracyStandard/Background

How the standard came into being

In early 2012 we started work on something that could conceptually underpin our upcoming work around Webmaker. We talked to many smart people and put together an alpha framework which then developed into a more mature framework and white paper that were made available in January 2013. During that process we solicited the opinions of experts, beginners, educators and learners.

While creating the Web Literacies framework we found many places where thinking and resources around Web Literacy existed. However, this was often in silos: the work was rarely joined-up and there were competing, overlapping definitions. This made for a confusing landscape. We sought to remedy that by providing a single, co-constructed resource that people

In February 2013 we held a number of kick-off meetings to launch a project around creating a new, open learning standard for Web Literacy. This would be a 'standard' in being something that people and organisations could align with; a co-created, community-defined sense check. Between February and July we met on community calls each week - occasionally adding ultra-focused hackjams on specific skills and competencies. We launched a first draft in April and then planned for a beta release in July.

What the standard is (and what it's not)

This standard comprises of the skills and competencies Mozilla and the community believe it is important to pay attention to if you want to get better and reading, writing and participating on the web. It is not a diagnostic tool. Our aim is to define the skills and competencies in such a way that they are specific enough to be able to have meaning, while not being so specific as to limit innovation. We wish to describe, not prescribe as there are many contexts in which the Web Literacy Standard could be used.

One way of viewing the Web Literacy Standard is as a 'map'. Just as we know that the map is not the territory, we also know that there are several different ways to construct a map. We have chosen a simple grid-like structure to represent the layers of the standard to ensure that it is easy to read and compare/contrast with existing resources.

How to align with the standard

Our hope is that people will choose to align with the Web Literacy Standard by using the Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI). The OBI provides a new method to credential learning in a web-native way. An 'alignment' URL is part of the metadata specification in the OBI and allows for badged learning activities to point towards a relevant part of the a standard. For example, an activity using Mozilla Popcorn Maker might align with the 'Remixing' part of the Web Literacy Standard. As each part of the standard has a unique URL, this is easy to achieve.

More traditional ways to align with the standard include mapping existing curricula and resources against the Web Literacy Standard. This could be a gap analysis in the first instance to see if there is anything missing (from both sides) followed by the development of additional learning materials to support learners working towards specific parts of the standard.

Feedback

You're very welcome to join us for our regular community calls in which we discuss the standard and issues around it. We also discuss use the Mozilla Webmaker discussion group for these purposes.

If you have feedback about the Web Literacy Standard you wouldn't like to make public please get in touch with Doug Belshaw in the first instance. He will be able to answer your query/suggestion directly - or put you in touch with someone who can.