News Corp. is moving in a new direction and aiming for a slice of the hi-tech education business with an agreement to buy data firm Wireless Generation for $360 million in cash, the company announced yesterday.
Wireless Generation, a 10-year-old firm, builds large scale data systems that help educators and parents keep track of student progress. The company also houses social-networking tools to encourage best practices and build communities for teachers. Part of the company’s business is to identify where children need more individual help and convey that to educators.
The move is News Corp.’s first major foray into the $500 billion US education sector, though the company, which also owns The Post, has been in the school text book business. The fresh direction comes just days after the appointment of New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein as an executive vice-president and board member of the company.
Klein is set to join News Corp. in January after eight years running New York City’s schools.
Speaking at a dinner in Washington recently, Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. Chairman and CEO, said, “In plain English, we trap the children who need an education most in failure factories.” In a statement about the deal, he continued, “When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching.”
Murdoch has been on a crusade of late aiming to highlight the need for improved education to keep America competitive. Improving education has been a priority of many executives, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is donating $100 million to Newark, NJ, schools, and Oprah Winfrey, who also funds educational improvement initiatives.
Wireless Generation fits into a new vision of the education system which will be revolutionized by technology and tools that help connect parents with the classroom.