This paper looks at the low participation rates in computer mediated conferences (CMC) and argues that one of the causes of this may be an incompatibility between students' learning styles and the style adopted by CMC. Curry's Onion Model provides a well-established framework within which to view the main learning style theories (Riding and Rayner, 1998). The outer layer of Curry's model examines instructional preference. This layer is considered to be most observable, least stable, and most easily influenced. The middle layer of Curry's model concerns an individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information and encompasses many of the learning style theories that are currently popular. This layer is considered to be more stable than the outer layer because it does not directly interact with the environment, although it is modifiable by learning strategies. The inner layer of the model examines cognitive personality style, addressing an individual's approach to adapting and assimilating information, and is considered to be an underlying and relatively permanent personality dimension. The Curry model is used in this paper to review the learning style theories, and it is argued that Riding's Cognitive Styles Analysis is the most powerful theory with which to examine educational CMC. A framework for conducting an empirical investigation using this theory is outlined. (Contains 21 references.) (AEF)