Current developments in the fields of communication and information technology contribute to the situation that we are faced continuously with new e-learning software in second language teaching. This fact presents new challenges for, in particular, teachers of foreign languages, which require a critical examination of the didactic effectiveness of e-learning products. As a prerequisite for such a didactic reflection the main types of e-learning products must first be described. The principal aim of the present article, therefore, is the attempt to record the currently existing main types of e-learning products and to categorize them. Furthermore, the objective is to present several examples and to point out some interesting features of selected learning platforms/programs and to examine a number of new tendencies. This overview should therefore offer the necessary and appropriate basis for a subsequent reflection on, and a discussion of, the effectiveness against the background of comparisons of e-learning products.