Whilst the amount of research focused on the use of wikis in the primary classroom is limited (Desilets and Paquet, 2005), what research there is has often reported that there are many benefits that can come from properly using wikis and other web 2.0 tools in the primary classroom.  Web 2.0 tools can enhance learning through the interactions that take place between other participants and online tools. They can improve communication skills, facilitate higher cognitive functions, and develop technological skills (Gray, Thompson, Sheard, Clerehan, Hamilton, 2010).

As Wikis emphasise the role of the user and their interactivity with technology, they can have positive influences on several things.  Firstly, they can help users to learn content, as through participation learners can create and guide the direction of learning.  Secondly, the learning that takes place can be categorised as authentic, as the wiki can assist in creating multiple understandings and positions students in a variety of learner roles.  Finally, wikis can assist in social learning through scaffolding and maintaining connection and communication with other participants (McLoughlin & Lee, 2007).

This combination of functionality and features has led to wikis being promoted as powerful collaborative learning tools and they are increasingly being used to support group-based collaborative learning tasks (Judd, 2010). The concept of Wiki pedagogy changes learning from a competitive perspective to a cooperative perspective, where learning is shared among different participants (Ruth & Houghton, 2009). Teaching and learning changes, as learners compare and contrast different contributions to ensure that they contribute in a meaningful way (Ruth & Houghton, 2009).

Using Wikis as an online learning tool can provide a higher sense of motivation because they provide learners with ownership of their own work. Through the ownership of their own work, learners are empowered to guide their own learning, which is reflected in the presentation of the wiki itself (Educause, 2005). Through their collaborative nature, Wikis can also provide useful feedback in determining the needs of developing research projects (Educause, 2005).

Churches (2008), discusses how using the collaborative features of web2.0 can reflect on the aspects of Bloom’s taxonomy, as it focuses on learning shifts between elements of understanding, applying, and resynthesising the collaboratively constructed knowledge. Relating to Wikis, participants are engaged in a process of understanding subject matter, redefining, recreating, and republishing to create new shared constructions of knowledge (Churches, 2008).  Teaching and learning through the use of Wikis helps learners work through steps of Bloom’s Taxonomy as information is presented in a variety of ways, and learners are required to take on a range of roles relating to the interaction with the learning content (Churches, 2008). By working through these different roles, learners are presented with a range of learning experiences, requiring them to form a range of understandings (Churches, 2008).

Using Wikis in education is based on rich content development, as the writing process is interactive and malleable in digital environments (Churches, 2008).
Reflecting on collaborative learning and the Bloom’s taxonomy aspect of Recall, for example, Louise’s report in Karchmer (2001), demonstrated that her students were more likely to revise their work when it was composed on the computer and published online. The teachers noticed a difference in their students’ writing once the Internet was used to showcase their work on either teacher-developed Web pages or Web pages created by students for class assignments. The students seemed more motivated to complete projects and displayed a greater interest in creating quality work when they knew it would be published online

Wikis also encourage learners to actively participate in their learning, promoting learned agency, engagement, and autonomy (McLaughlin & Lee, 2010). For example, Reinking and Rickman (1990) examined sixth graders’ vocabulary achievement when they read electronic texts that provided the meanings of difficult words. They found that those students using the computer-generated texts scored higher on follow-up vocabulary tests than their peers who read print-based texts and used print-based dictionaries and glossaries (Karchmer, 2001) building knowledge to reflect on re-synthesising knowledge in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

The emergence of online education has led to flexibility in teaching and learning, it calls for a reflection on the changing technological needs of learners (Bennett & Lockyer, 2004). This involves an understanding of how new emerging online technologies can be applied and implemented, in order to meet the changing social needs of both instructor and learner (Bennett & Lockyer, 2004).While the value of emerging web2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, and social networking sites, is only just beginning to receive recognition in education, as educators, it is important to understand the vital contribution that they make towards teaching and learning beyond the classroom (Hague & Williamson, 2009). Wikis are becoming popular in collaborative tasks, as they foster effective and efficient editing and authoring functions for all the participants (Educause, 2005).