About Inside the Learning Experience with WGU Labs
Inside the Learning Experience explores the future of education through conversations with experts in learning design, technology, and academic research, diving into the evolution of learning, the challenges students face, and how we can create more effective, equitable, and impactful educational experiences.
What if every student had a tutor who was always available, always personalized, and always ready with the right feedback at the right moment? In this episode of Inside the Learning Experience, host Betheny Gross sits down with Lauren Zito, a senior research scientist at WGU Labs, to explore how AI is transforming postsecondary education — not just as a delivery tool, but as a core part of how courses are designed. They dig into the science behind why timely feedback matters, what personalization actually looks like in practice, and how role-play and simulation are opening up entirely new kinds of learning that weren't possible before. Plus: the "experience gap" facing new workers, and why Lauren believes students need to learn how to learn with AI before they can effectively work with it.
5 Feb 2026
The Future of Postsecondary in the Age of AI: New Pathways, Real Access
What if AI could finally help higher education do what it’s been trying to do for decades? In this episode of Inside the Learning Experience, Betheny Gross and Drew Ceccato discuss how AI is enabling new postsecondary pathways, closer alignment with workforce needs, and expanded access for learners who’ve historically been left out. From degrees to micro-credentials and everything in between, this conversation explores what the future of learning could look like—and what it will take to get there.
23 Jan 2026
What 2026 Means for Access, Learning, and Work
2025 wasn’t just another year for higher education; it was the moment theory turned into reality. Institutions stopped planning for AI and started deploying it. Things broke. New tools emerged. And long-standing assumptions about how students learn, how credentials work, and who controls educational pathways began to crack.
In this episode of the Inside the Learning Experience Podcast, we dive deep into our 2025 End of Year Impact Report (https://www.wgulabs.org/posts/reimagining-a-system-that-works-end-of-year-impact-report-2025) to examine how AI is being used to tackle higher education’s most persistent wicked problems.
8 Jan 2026
Designing Proactive Student Support: What Learners Want from AI
Researchers Youngki Hong and Stephanie Reeves discuss with Betheny Gross how AI tool Stu proactively connects students with resources, addressing barriers like belonging and awareness to improve student support and success in this interview episode.
18 Dec 2025
Inside an AI Mentor: Powering Personalized Student Support with Data
WGU Labs explores how AI mentors personalize student support, scale mentoring programs, and connect learners with resources, offering insights into AI's transformative potential in education.
20 Nov 2025
AI, Student Support & Belonging
Betheny Gross and Susie Chen discuss how WGU Labs utilizes AI technology to proactively support students, fostering belonging and connecting them with academic and mental health resources.
7 Nov 2025
Building Belonging Through Peer Support
Industry experts discuss how peer support programs foster student belonging and confidence by leveraging shared experiences to complement traditional counseling services in this interview episode.
23 Oct 2025
Belonging Beyond the Classroom: Building Connection in Online Learning
Omid Fotuhi interviews Katy Kappler about building digital communities that foster connection and belonging for online learners, emphasizing the importance of social capital and AI support in education.
9 Oct 2025
Student Perceptions of AI in Education
Industry experts discuss student perceptions of AI in higher education, revealing optimism for personalized learning but highlighting gender disparities in confidence and usage, emphasizing the need for AI literacy and ethical implementation.
25 Sept 2025
Instruction Support: When and What AI can Enhance
Omid Fotuhi interviews Lita Simanga-Hooper about how artificial intelligence enhances teaching and learning, focusing on the evolving role of instruction.
11 Sept 2025
Inside the Learning Experience Ep. 7 - Living in the Tension: Balancing AI & Human-Centered Learning
Host Omid Fotuhi interviews Tadd Farmer, Senior Learning Experience Designer at WGU Labs, about navigating the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI with human-centered learning design.
24 Jul 2025
Rethinking Assessment with AI and Personalized Learning
Omid Fotuhi and Katrina Ware examine how AI reshapes assessment into a personalized learning journey, fostering intrinsic motivation and inclusive education in this interview.
Industry experts discuss how microcredentials from WGU Academy and WGU Labs equip adult learners with leadership skills for frontline roles, connecting education to real-world employment through research-backed design; this is an interview.
5 Jun 2025
Student Loan Debt Crisis: Borrower Impact and Solutions
Researchers from WGU Labs and SAVI examine new data exposing student loan repayment challenges and persistent disparities as payments resume, in this interview episode.
15 May 2025
Non-Completers' Needs: Insights for Higher Education
1 May 2025
Personalizing Education with AI That Understands Learning
From WGU Labs, Research Director Dr. Bethany Gross and Learning Experience Designer Christine McDonough explore what it really takes to build AI tutors that go beyond question-and-answer exchanges. They discuss how learning science, adaptive instruction, and multi-agent systems are transforming the way students engage with content—and how AI can create more personalized, dynamic, and scalable learning experiences rooted in real mastery.
Inside the Learning Experience explores the future of education through conversations with experts in learning design, technology, and academic research, diving into the evolution of learning, the challenges students face, and how we can create more effective, equitable, and impactful educational experiences.
16 Apr 2025
Educational Assessments & AI
From WGU Labs, Research Director Dr. Betheny Gross and Lead Learning Experience Designer Lesley Reilly, discuss the impact of AI on educational assessments and how it’s shaping the future of teaching by creating interactive scenarios that allow students to practice skills in a safe, low-risk environment.
Inside the Learning Experience explores the future of education through conversations with experts in learning design, technology, and academic research, diving into the evolution of learning, the challenges students face, and how we can create more effective, equitable, and impactful educational experiences.
Who has been a guest on Inside the Learning Experience with WGU Labs
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Youngki Hong
Stephanie Reeves
Betheny Gross
Susie Chen
Katy Kappler
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 8 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
3
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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Questions about Inside the Learning Experience with WGU Labs
Who hosts Inside the Learning Experience with WGU Labs?
Omid Fotuhi host the show. Published by WGU Labs.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
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The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
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