High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Benchmarking is a management tool that has been applied in many areas of business but it is only in 2005-06 that there has been immense growth in its application specifically to university use of educational technology, initially in New Zealand, then in Europe including the UK under the auspices of the Higher Education Academy and most recently spreading to the US. Benchmarking e-learning is now seen in the UK as a key enabler of change in universities - some 40 universities and university-level colleges, around one quarter of all relevant UK institutions, are now starting work on this, with a further 12 having recently completed a pilot exercise.