Web self-efficacy: A psychological prerequisite for web literacy

Abstract

Initially, the present paper aims at conceptualizing self-efficacy as an important psychological construct put forth more than 30 years ago by the most cited living psychologist, Albert Bandura. The concept has been tested and confirmed by many researchers in different disciplines and recently in the web environment. Furthermore, web literacy is also a significant skill that is of high importance in using web resources. Using evaluation criteria traditionally applied to print sources combined with new strategies for making sense of contents in hypertext and multimedia formats is considered the main skill in web literacy. However, the two concepts of self-efficacy and web literacy have not been given full consideration in related literature jointly. Such subject areas as adaptation and application of information technologies; information-related skills and research competencies are dependent on users' psychological characteristics such as self-efficacy in the web environment. Following a conceptualization related to the concept of web self-efficacy, some of the most important types of it ranging from computer to research self-efficacy are explored at the end of the paper.