Derek is currently the Director of eLearning CORE Education Ltd, a not-for-profit educational research and development organization based in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has a broad background in education, with experience at the primary and secondary school level, and as principal lecturer at the Christchurch College of Education where he established the Primary Open Learning Option (POLO), a distance education programme which offers the Bachelor of Teaching qualification for students anywhere in NZ wishing to train as primary teachers.

Derek's experience in flexible and distance learning includes his role as manager of the eSection at The Correspondence School in Wellington where he led the development of eLearning initiatives as a transition from traditional print-based delivery. He has also had a role in the Ministry of Education as a senior adviser in eLearning, helping formulate a national eLearning framework, and is currently spends some of his time on contract to the Ministry working on the implementation plan for this framework.