These tools are far more than the electronic equivalent of the attendance sheet. As in so many arenas, computers have enabled us to do things that were previously impossible or very difficult. VLE surveillance tools record every move a student makes within the learning space, and provide intimate details of every student's working hours and patterns of study. Where such a virtual learning environment (VLE) is integrated with wider institutional information systems to form what is currently generally called a managed learning environment (MLE), anyone wishing to generate a student record walks through an even richer information landscape. Similarly, system administrators may extract information at a similar level of detail from almost any networked activity, whether undertaken by students or staff. However, where previously to track activity within a web-based learning environment would have involved the deliberate, rather complex analysis of log files and server statistics (something for which the majority of us would have neither the time nor the inclination), within VLEs surveillance is a casual act - sophisticated and detailed reports on individual students can be obtained with a couple of mouse clicks. Further, such tracking tools are included in learning environments as an integral element of their pedagogical functioning.