Designing Innovation in Education

The biggest challenges in education need effective and scalable solutions. From removing barriers, to access for students from under-resourced communities, to streamlining the learn-work-learn cycle, stakeholders in higher education and workforce development need ways to redesign the current learning experience. The challenges are complex, sometimes contradictory, and ever-evolving. They are education’s wicked problems.

To design collaborative solutions to these complex problems, WGU Labs works with higher education leaders, faculty, students, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and other stakeholders. As the innovation arm of Western Governors University — an institution that reimagined the traditional university 25 years ago — we are driving practical ideas to action by remaining close to the student experience.

We use our unique position as an organization that is both part of and separate from higher education to drive systemic change. The leaders we collaborate with count on us to ask astute questions, thread disparate information into insights, and push bold, learner-centered ideas. Then we investigate, test, and refine those concepts into workable solutions that support learner outcomes and advance equitable access.

At WGU Labs our work stands on four multidisciplinary pillars.

Let’s design better education experiences.

Examine

Transforming learning begins with careful analysis. We use rigorous methods to analyze policy, systems, and education technology solutions to identify what works and why.

Build

Better products will close equity gaps and improve learner outcomes. We build high-quality, learner-centered technologies and instructional content based on learning science and design.

Connect

The best solutions are born out of collaboration. We build connections between entrepreneurs, higher education leaders, and workforce stakeholders that bolster the education marketplace.