It is postulated that one of the main problems with e-learning environments is their lack of personalisation. This article presents a comprehensive review of the current work in the field and proposes a framework for research in promoting personalisation in Web-based learning environments. The concepts of adaptability, adaptivity and the limitations of completely adaptive systems are discussed. The conception of more interactive environments that are both adaptable and adaptive, which can assist the teacher in making interesting pedagogical decisions while tutoring in a virtual environment is proposed. Two versions of an algorithm that can be used to offer personalisation in the framework described are developed and discussed in this article. The algorithm is basically a method devised to select the most appropriate learning object from a pool of potential objects that exist in the repository.