Jacob Klein – CEO and Founder of Motion Math
Jacob Klein is the current CEO, and also the founder of Motion Math, a company that has created a suite of mobile games designed to help kids find success in understanding mathematics. Motion Math has been very successful since its inception in 2010, its suite of games designed for grades K-6 have been downloaded more than 4 million times, and won 3 digital gaming awards.
Aside from Motion Math, Klein is a member of the advisory board at YouCubed, a non-profit organization that offers K-12 mathematical content for educators. Klein’s current venture is a culmination of his previous education and professional experiences. He graduated from Stanford University in 2002 with a Bachelors of Science in Symbolic Systems, and subsequently worked as a video producer, editor, and director before returning to Stanford in 2009 to complete his Masters in Learning, Design, and Technology, and earn a certificate at Stanford Ignite, a bootcamp for entrepreneurs. He has also had experience teaching grade 7 English at Kipper Summit Academy, a public charter school.
Motion Math has strong team of experienced players in its rank, its co-founder Gabriel Adauto, earned a Masters in Design, Learning, and Technology from Stanford University while simultaneously teaching technology classes for five years. Julie Huston, the head of sales at Motion Math, has over 2o years of experience selling to schools and was previously the Executive Vice President of Sales for Archipelago Learning. Other software developers in Motion Math are well versed in the field of education, as well as in software development.
As a current Mathematics teacher, it is always interesting to see the convergence of technology and mathematical pedagogy. Klein’s success with Motion Math is a sign that there are huge opportunities in game based learning, in relation to mathematics. I am curious to see if Motion Math eventually expands its repertoire of games to engage an audience in mathematics beyond the K-6 level, which is an age range that is quickly becoming more saturated. There is a lack of well designed, and captivating games for mathematical topics at the high school level and I am curious to see who the eventual big players in that age group would be and the types of games that they can produce.
