Does a « virtual learning environment » refer to any educational web site? No. However, as
many fashionable words, some authors use it in a very broad way, including for instance Web sites that simply include static Web pages. Is a «virtual learning environment» restricted to systems including some 3D / virtual reality technology? No. Some environments include less sophisticated interfaces, namely text-based ones. Between these over-general and over-specific definitions, there is a range of environments, which vary along the criteria listed below. Our goal is not to decide which environments deserve the «virtual learning environment» label, but to provide an understanding of their specificity.