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The portability of educational software is defined as the likelihood of software usage, with or without adaptation, in an educational environment different from that for which it was originally designed and produced. Barriers and research relevant to the portability of electronic learning resources are discussed and organised into a portability‐limiting factors model. With the increase in number and scope of networked learning environments, portability issues take on a new dimension. Using electronic (study) books as an example, the portability problem space of networked learning environments is explored.

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Attention has been drawn to the concepts of Electronic Books and Electronic Study Books. Several publications have discussed some main ideas (paradigms) for both concepts. For the Electronic Study Book as a learning environment, it is essential to consider individual modes of learning, usually termed 'learning styles'. It is argued that Electronic Study Books should be adaptable in accordance with personal learning styles. Some options will be presented to link 'styles' and 'books'. One such option is a Style Initiating Module which we are currently investigating. Keywords: Courseware; Electronic books; Electronic study books;Electronic learning environment; Learning style. Electronic BooksIn a series of articles (Barker, 1990;Barker & Manji, 1989; Egan ef al., 1989) and in a special issue of Educational & Training Technology International (Barker, 1991) the nature and the educational potential of Electronic Books and Electronic Study Books (De Diana, 1991) have been discussed.By combining traditional book concepts with some of the advantages of electronic media, it is presumed that the Electronic Book could become a late 20th century successor of the Paper Book.In Barker (19901, hypermedia, reactive media, the principle of surrogation, learner control, and the composite screen are presented as paradigms for the Electronic Book. The hypermedia paradigm involves the nonlinear structuring of units of (multimedial) information. The units can be connected in several ways and thus become a network that can be travelled through ('navigated') by learners in different ways. Reactive media involve interaction between humans and computers; the dialogue can be initiated, responded to, or stopped by both partners. The principle of surrogation builds upon the capacity of the computer to simulate parts of the real world visually. Computer animation can be used to create visualisations of (small) explorable worlds. Learner control implies that the learner can control the learning process. The composite screen paradigm presumes the facility of opening simultaneously multiple windows and displaying different streams of information through these windows.The key distinction between the paper book and the electronic book is to be found in the additional cognitive support facilities that the electronic book could offer. Facilities, for example, to support information selection, information processing, information evaluation, and information approval or rejection. An electronic book then can be seen as an interactive 'mindtool', connected with a multimedia1 data base.Electronic Study Books Some facilities that could turn an Electronic Book into an Electronic Study Book are, according to De Diana (1991): information marking, annotation, support for group-based learning, information sequencing, and support for information distribution. Identifying scope and relevance of study materialIt is customary, though not always approved of, for readers to mark important passages in study books such as keywords, keyphrases, paragraphs ...

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