ABSTRACT
The sociocultural approach to human cognition has recently gained influence in the field of educational technology. This emergence can be explained by the renewed interest in America for Vygotsky’s theories since the translation of his book (Vygotsky, 1978) and by the attacks against the individualistic view of cognition that dominated cognitive science (Lave, 1988). Moreover, the actual use of computers in classrooms leads scientists to pay more attention to social factors: teachers often have to put two or more students in front of each computer because schools generally have more students than computers! This situation was originally viewed as a restriction to the potential of computer-assisted instruction, since it was contradictory to the principle of individualization. Today, it is perceived as a promising way of using computers (Blaye, Light, Joiner, & Sheldon, 1991).
