In this paper we chart the history of selected metaphors that have been used to describe Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) over the last 15 years. Martin Weller famously claimed in 2007 that “the VLE is dead”. This provocation positioned the VLE as an object of history, forcing us to consider its past, present and future. This notion of historical mapping is important as many educational technologies that failed to deliver on their promises can be easily forgotten. Hence, we sought to develop a short history of VLE metaphors. Using a defined search and selection strategy we selected 30 metaphors spanning a 15-year period from 2004 to 2019 derived from a variety of sources ranging from social media to scholarly publications. We first arranged the metaphors according to a chronological timeline. Next we sought to unpack their significance by thematically analysing them using the notion of metaphorical concepts. Through this thematic analysis, six organizing metaphorical concepts were generated: Straitjacket, Behemoth, Digital Carpark, Safe Space, Smorgasbord and Pathfinder. We then used these metaphorical concepts as a lens, to map and explore historical developments and debates over the past two decades of educational technology. As the world scrambles to go online during the COVID-19 pandemic there has never been a more important time to remember and reflect upon digital learning history. Through this work we contribute to the history of educational technology by remembering its metaphors and what they have taught us. After we had navigated these historical seas, we noticed that the VLE was still here, as a limpet resolutely awaiting the next wave.

中文翻译：

---

VLE：从鲨鱼到残肢的隐喻历史

在本文中，我们绘制了过去15年中用来描述虚拟学习环境（VLE）的选定隐喻的历史图。马丁·韦勒（Martin Weller）在2007年著名地宣称“ VLE已死”。这次挑衅将VLE定位为历史的对象，迫使我们考虑其过去，现在和未来。历史映射的概念很重要，因为许多未能兑现承诺的教育技术很容易被遗忘。因此，我们试图发展一段简短的VLE隐喻历史。使用定义的搜索和选择策略，我们从社交媒体到学术出版物等各种来源中选择了从2004年到2019年的15年间的30个隐喻。我们首先按照时间顺序排列隐喻。接下来，我们试图通过使用隐喻概念的主题对它们进行主题分析来揭示它们的重要性。通过主题分析，生成了六个组织的隐喻概念：束缚夹克，庞然大物，数字停车场，安全空间，Smorgasbord和探路者。然后，我们将这些隐喻性概念用作镜头，以描绘和探索过去二十年来教育技术的历史发展和辩论。随着世界在COVID-19大流行期间争先恐后上网，现在没有比现在更重要的时刻来记住和反思数字学习历史了。通过这项工作，我们通过记住它的隐喻及其所教给我们的知识，为教育技术的历史做出了贡献。在我们浏览了这些历史海洋之后，我们发现VLE还在这里，