Former FutureLearn CEO heads up Nord Anglia’s EdTech division

Former FutureLearn CEO heads up Nord Anglia’s EdTech division Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium international schools organisation, today announced that Simon Nelson has been appointed as Group Digital Director. In his new role, Simon will set up and lead Nord Anglia’s Education Technology (EdTech) division. Prior to joining Nord Anglia, Simon was CEO of FutureLearn, one of Europe’s fastest growing EdTech start-ups and a world-leading online education learning platform launched by the Open University. Under Simon’s leadership since 2012, FutureLearn attracted over 15 million students worldwide to online courses developed in partnership with the world’s top universities. Earlier in his career, Simon led the BBC’s digital TV and radio operations for over a decade, playing a leading role in the development of its on-demand services, including the launch of BBC iPlayer. In his new role, Simon will be responsible for further expanding Nord Anglia’s range of leading online teaching and learning platforms used by its 67,000 students and 10,000 teachers across its 69 schools in 29 countries. The EdTech division will pioneer new approaches that support and empower teachers and enhance students’ learning outcomes.

Commenting on his appointment, Simon Nelson said:

“Nord Anglia is an amazing international education success story and I am joining at an exciting time as we take the next step in transforming how we use technology and data to deliver outstanding learning outcomes for our students. The potential for technology to transform education has never been greater or more important and, using Nord Anglia’s scale and world-class teaching community, we have the opportunity to innovate with teacher-led technology to set new standards in teaching and learning.”

Andrew Fitzmaurice, Chief Executive Officer of Nord Anglia Education, said:

“Simon is widely recognised as a pioneer in EdTech and digital transformation and we are delighted that he has agreed to join Nord Anglia to oversee our global programme. Through our Global Campus online learning platform for students and Nord Anglia University, our learning platform for teachers, we already lead in technology-enabled learning across our schools. Under Simon’s leadership we will accelerate how we use new technologies to help our 10,000 teachers transform the education of every Nord Anglia student both in the classroom and at home.”