E-Learning Trade Associations

1EdTech Consortium

Nonprofit standards collaborative (formerly IMS Global) that advances an open, trusted edtech ecosystem; 740+ member organizations and 7,000+ individual collaborators work on interoperability like LTI, OneRoster, and CASE.

https://www.1edtech.org Membership: 740

Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

UK professional body for learning technologists supporting accreditation (CMALT), research, policy and community; community has grown to 3,500+ members.

https://www.alt.ac.uk Membership: 3,500

Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE)

Australasian professional association for technology-enhanced learning in tertiary education; a connected community of 500+ professionals and academics and publisher of AJET.

https://ascilite.org Membership: 500

Association for Talent Development (ATD)

Largest global association for talent development and workplace learning, including instructional design and e-learning; 30,000+ members across 120+ countries.

https://www.td.org Membership: 30,000

Apereo Foundation

Open source in education foundation/community (Sakai, CAS, Opencast, Xerte) with 300+ institutional members and 2,000+ contributors supporting open edtech.

https://www.apereo.org Membership: 300

Customer Education Management Association (CEdMA)

Trade association for customer education leaders in technology companies; 800+ individual members from 50+ global tech companies share benchmarks and best practices.

https://www.cedma.org Membership: 800

Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)

K–12 edtech leadership association for school system technology leaders; over 2,050 institutional members (districts) reaching 11+ million students nationwide.

https://www.cosn.org Membership: 2,050

European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU)

Europe’s leading institutional university network for online/open/distance higher education; 28 member organizations representing 150+ universities and ~3 million students.

https://www.eadtu.eu Membership: 28

EDEN Digital Learning Europe (EDEN DLE)

Pan‑European association and community of practice for digital and distance learning; membership includes ~50 institutional and 100+ individual members engaged in research, policy and professional development.

https://eden-europe.eu Membership: 150

EDUCAUSE

Nonprofit for higher ed technology professionals; 2,100+ member organizations and 115,000+ individual members connecting on trends, research, and practice (teaching and learning, AI, cybersecurity, data, etc.).

https://www.educause.edu Membership: 115,000

International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)

Global NGO for online, open, and technology‑enhanced education; 200+ member institutions and organizations across ~80 countries promote distance education and OER.

https://www.icde.org Membership: 200

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

Nonprofit professional association accelerating innovation in teaching and learning with technology; members access PD, standards, and a Connect community of 25,000+ educators.

https://www.iste.org Membership: 25,000

Learning Guild, The

Community of practice for L&D and e‑learning professionals (formerly The eLearning Guild) offering research, events (DevLearn, Learning Solutions), and networking; 80,000+ community members.

https://www.learningguild.com Membership: 80,000

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching)

International consortium and OER community led by California State University; over 200,000 registered members contribute and curate open online learning materials used in higher education and workforce.

https://www.merlot.org Membership: 200,000

Online Learning Consortium (OLC)

Nonprofit collaborative for advancing quality digital learning via research, standards (Quality Scorecard), PD, and events (Accelerate/Innovate); historically ~1,000 dues‑paying members (2012) plus free community members.

https://onlinelearningconsortium.org Membership: 1,000

Open Education Global (OE Global)

Global non‑profit advancing openness in education; member directory lists 477 institutional and individual members across 60+ countries supporting OER and open practices.

https://www.oeglobal.org Membership: 477

Quality Matters (QM)

Nonprofit quality‑assurance association best known for its QM Rubrics and course/program reviews; community ~100,000 and 1,200–1,500+ member institutions worldwide.

https://www.qualitymatters.org Membership: 1,500

United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)

U.S. association advocating and supporting distance/digital learning across education, corporate, health, and government; resources support 100,000+ members in the DE professional community.

https://usdla.org Membership: 100,000

WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET)

WICHE’s cooperative for digital learning in higher education; member community engages via WCET events, policy, and practice with 4,000+ professionals participating in wcetDISCUSS.

https://wcet.wiche.edu Membership: 4,000

University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA)

Association for professional, continuing, and online education leaders in North American higher ed; community of ~15,000 individuals at 400+ institutions focuses on online learning, alt‑credentials, and enrollment strategy.

https://upcea.edu Membership: 15,000