Managing differences in stakeholder relationships and organizational cultures in e-learning development: lessons from the UK eUniversity experience

Abstract

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In 2000 the UK Government launched a major new initiative, the UK eUniversity (UKeU), to
 capitalize on the potential of e-learning. With over £60 million of investment the UKeU was
 created to act as a broker between existing universities in terms of marketing online degrees from
 British universities. The UKeU represented the most important foray into e-learning yet
 undertaken in the UK and was also certainly one of the most significant internationally. As
 Conole et al. quoted:
 At its launch the then secretary of state proudly announced that: ‘. . . it is clear that
 virtual learning is an industry which is striding forward all around us . . .’ (Blunkett,
 2000). When it collapsed only five years later, Sheerman suggested the investment had
 been ‘. . . a disgraceful waste of public money . . .’ (Sheerman, 2005).
 Its early demise sounds a warning note to all of us involved in e-learning. It is important that we
 learn from this experience so as not to replicate its mistakes, but also not to allow its failure on some
 levels to drown out the enormous potential and good practice which it instituted on other levels.