Academy Wink Webs are a new harvestable that is introduced by the quest Wink Webs. Like fishing, they require an item to be harvested.
In this case, players must be wearing Inspectacles to see the wink webs. The Inspectacles are rewarded when completing a specific quest sequence for the librarian.
When equipped with Inspectacles you'll be able to see the Wink Webs your avatar's arrow/footsteps lead to. Please note your avatar's arrow/footsteps will only lead to Wink Webs if they are listed as a quest objective.
They mainly are in the Academy but can also be found in other dark outdoor areas.