In this section we note that the theories/pedagogies that the use of wikis help to promote are the cognitive approach, and more specifically the constructivist approach defended by the likes of Dewey and Papert. The core idea is that learning occurs when knowledge is constructed by the pupil, rather than transfered from teacher to pupil. The content is only secondary and the acquisition of new learning skills is primary. Co-operative learning situations are encouraged in which a small group is given a problem to solve. Each member of the group is expected to master a different aspect of the task and then help others to learn their newly acquired expertise.
Educational contexts of interest to this approach, that is learning scenarios where (1) what is required is the acquisition of skills rather than the memorisation of facts, (2) fairly high-level skills have to be acquired, (3) better global results can be attained with pupils in groups than with them isolated. In this context, the potential of Wikis as learning support is obvious :
In this section, we will argue that present arguments for the view that Wikis can be very efficiently support od learning. It is important to make clear that this usefulness would probably be evaluated very differently by different educational approaches. A behaviourist approach would probably see Wikis as highly undesirable tools that have more potential to become highly disruptive of the learning experience than to be hihgly suportive of it. In contrast, a cognitive/constructivist approach would see it as a tool that let them reach many of their learning goals better than many of the classical tools.