Hollywood Watching the Learning Revolution

Even Hollywood has taken notice that learning entrepreneurship is on the rise.  Jonnie Roberts of The Wrap called Tom this week about Joel Klein’s new role at News Corp.

“We are convinced that in the next years we can build platforms with digital content and learning profiles,” Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Open Education Solutions and a partner of ed-venture fund Learn Capital, told TheWrap. “These platforms can be customized to learning, and put in teachers’ hands, really powerful new tools.”
Investors’ growing interest in education is another indication of the dawning era. Vander Ark, who was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s first executive director for education, launched the first fund dedicated to education three years ago. Now, he told TheWrap, private equity dealmakers and venture capitalists are pouring into the field.

Jonnie outlines News Corps’ acqusition of Wireless Generation and staff development:

In addition to tutoring his boss, Klein is continuing to build his staff. On Tuesday, he hired a top strategist, veteran educator and digital-education expert Diana Rhoten. Two other recent hires included the division’s chief operating officer, Kristen Kane, Klein’s former No. 2 in the New York city schools. The other is senior vice president Dr. Peter Gorman, former superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

A wall street analyst told Jonnie that competitor “Pearson’s goal is nothing short of “personalizing education in US schools through technology and best practices.”
Nice to see that even Hollywood is taking notice of the learning revolution.