TF: Who are the target members, eg teachers?

RW: Anyone undertaking research or projects related to education. This includes instructors, learners, researchers, education technologists and others. The site is oriented towards supporting open source, standards and content. Some projects are focused on software development for education but many projects simply use the collaboration tools.

TF: What is the membership level currently?

RW: Approximately 700 and growing week by week.

TF: Are you the founder? If not, who is, plus what is your role plus some biographical details please

RW: Co-founder really. At the time I was working with Ken Udas who is now the Director of the SUNY Learning Network, in Albany, New York. Together we bounced around ideas on what we needed, recognised that there was a common need for such a resource, and therefore developed it with an international focus.

I am currently the E-Learning Director at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, a specialist distance learning provider with approximately 35,000 students. However, my primary role is the Project Leader for the New Zealand Open Source Virtual Learning Environment project (NZOSVLE), and I'm involved in a number of related open source initiatives in education. I've been involved in enterprise level Internet projects for around 8 years now both within and outside education. I very much support the open source ethos and potential it has to positively transform our societies.

TF: Does the reality of how it works in practice match the vision you had?

RW: It’s very pleasing that we have delivered a resource that others are finding useful. Naturally the vision continues to evolve as you learn and as new technologies develop. For example, Planet Eduforge (http://planet.eduforge.org/) wasn't part of the original scope. Planet Eduforge is an RSS aggregator of interesting blogs related to open source, standards and content in education. It’s a great resource. Next up will be an online academic journal with an international peer review board.

So, while it’s totally consistent with the original vision, we're committed to continuously improving the services across Eduforge.

TF: How does its function differ from, or are similar to, other sites or organizations, eg that of SchoolForge ?