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In addition, there are a number of challenges connected with using the wiki as oneof the modes of instruction. These include:a. Learning to work in collaboration: working in the wiki students become moredependent on their peers’ feedback, so if it is not published in time the studentscannot use it while revising and/or editing their essay drafts.b. Learning to use the learning environment: for most of the students working inan online environment is a new experience, so they need some guidance andpractice in using it. This is sometimes complicated by the students’ prior learningexperience which to a large extent is based on a teacher-centred approach tolearning and teaching.c. Learning to use the learning environment to its full potential, for which thestudents need to become more familiar with its affordances and limitations.d. Learning to manage their time more efficiently: this is of general concern, andbecomes even more acute than usual in the given context, for obvious reasons.Lessons learned and adviceWhile designing the blend and teaching using it, it has become clear that it takes timefor students to get used to both participating in peer-editing and doing it in the wiki.So, it is important to train students to comment on their peers’ work and help themto learn to use the learning environment by offering activities that will allow them tolearn to use it more fully. Also, it is necessary to make the students aware of the timemanagement issues that can interfere with the learning process. In addition, studentsshould be encouraged to take more control over some aspects of the learningenvironment, such as adding relevant content to it, maintaining its appearanceand using its editing and commenting features to their greater potential.Pains and gains from blendingKeeping the students motivated throughout the whole duration of the course wasone of its worrying aspects. The other one was enabling the students to stick to thedeadlines for wiki submissions. In the context as described this was crucial because ofthe students’ dependence on their peers’ feedback on their writing for further revision.Among the benefits of course blending the students enumerated the following:ease of access to the course materials and work written by the students’ peers, anopportunity to receive feedback on their writing from their peers in addition to thatgiven by the teacher, and to gain more confidence in their writing thanks to theopportunity to compare their ability to write to that of their peers. Also, thanks toblending, students gain greater awareness of audience issues because peers providea broader and more natural audience for their writing, which agrees with research onthe benefits of peer-editing reviewed in this article.Overall the attitude of the students to the described course blend was rather positiveand encouraged me to work on improving it. Some possible directions for theimprovement of the blend include improving the criteria for assessing the students’contributions to the wiki, improving the students’ wiki submission procedures andproviding them with more opportunities for collaboration.48 | A blended English as a Foreign Language academic writing course