Modular Learning Library
🔎 Project Overview
Course development at WGU was often slowed by duplication of effort — instructional design teams across programs (IT, Business, Health Care, and Teaching) were repeatedly building similar content. This created inefficiencies, raised costs, and slowed speed-to-market for new programs.
To solve this, I pioneered the idea of a Modular Learning Library: a repository of ready-to-use, competency-aligned learning modules that curriculum teams could access, adapt, and reuse.
🛠️ My Role
Conceived and launched the modular development model at WGU.
Partnered with academic leaders across disciplines to identify the most commonly used competencies.
Directed teams of product designers, assessment developers, and instructional designers to build and house reusable modules.
Designed the library for easy access, ensuring adoption by curriculum and instructional design teams.
📘 Deep-Dive Narrative
WGU’s competency-based model was highly effective, but development could be slow and resource-intensive. Different colleges were often recreating content for competencies like “communication,” “leadership,” or “project management.”
I recognized an opportunity: if we could modularize content around shared competencies, we could cut development time dramatically while ensuring quality and alignment.
We began by:
Analyzing core competencies across degree programs.
Building competency-aligned modules that included instructional content, activities, and assessments.
Housing them in a shared library system accessible to all instructional designers.
This new approach transformed course development at WGU. Designers could now “pull from the shelf” instead of starting from scratch — saving both time and money, while raising the consistency of student experiences.
👥 Leadership in Action
This project required cross-disciplinary collaboration and careful change management. Faculty and curriculum leaders were deeply invested in their unique program designs — so I facilitated workshops to show how a shared library could serve all disciplines while preserving flexibility.
One colleague reflected:
“Working with Molly pushed me to think bigger about what learning design could be. She gives people the space to innovate and the coaching to succeed.”
✨ Key Outcomes
Created WGU’s first Modular Learning Library.
Reduced course development time and costs significantly.
Improved cross-disciplinary consistency while maintaining flexibility.
Enabled faster response to market needs by cutting time-to-launch for new programs by nearly 50%.
