What is Coercive Isomorphism

Over the past decade e-learning standards have attracted substantial and growing attention from practitioners, institutions and governments. Millions of dollars are being invested in a process of standardization that, while aimed at supporting e-learning, seems to have neglected pedagogy and the need to engage with practitioners who are not technology specialists. In parallel, a culture of quality assurance has developed internationally within higher education resulting in quality frameworks that are driven by external compliance agendas rather than directly influencing the quality of the student and teacher experience of education. The e-learning Maturity Model provides a standard that guides professionals and organizations in assessing their e-learning capability, but also complements this with quality enhancement and feasibility elements that support reflection, prioritization of resources and guide personal and organizational development of e-learning.