e-learning but not as we know it

School science teaching and learning is in crisis. Recent changes to the science curriculum aim to address this situation and change attitudes to science by engaging learners in scientific enquiry and equipping learners to participate in debate about science issues of public concern. New technologies afford many opportunities to meet this agenda and can be used to link school science with real world science and scientists. However, turning this vision into a practical reality for school teachers and learners requires a coherent strategy and well designed technology. We are exploring how best to deliver innovative e-Science learning opportunities in the most useful and usable way within the constraints of school environments. Here, drawing on our previous experimental work in e-Science for learning and more recent guided discussions with science teachers we outline initial recommendations for the design of e-learning activities to support school science in the 21st century. Our ongoing work aims to iteratively refine these recommendations through experimentation with users in real contexts