Learning Environments concentrate on the teaching and learning aspects of Learning Platforms. They are often thought of as virtual classrooms. In the virtual classroom, teachers and students can present learning resources, share their own work, carry out assessments and receive feedback.

Learning Environments extend learning any time anywhere that users have access to the Internet. They allow teachers and students to continue working from home whenever they wish, or from any number of different education sites.

Learning Environments are often referred to as Virtual or Managed Learning Environments (VLEs or MLEs). A Managed Learning Environment is one which uses pupil data and timetabling, usually from the school's Management Information System, to structure learning. Increasingly, most products do this to some extent, so the terms are tending to become standardised as just Learning Environments.

The advent of social networking on the internet, and the evolution of collaborative working in business, has brought about new tools and ways of communicating that are being incorporated into Learning Environments: Learning Environments often include tools for creating blogs and wikis, and facilities for groups to work together on writing and editing documents.