LAS partnered with Sara Dunn Associates to win funding from the Ufi to create engaging online learning and performance support for the care sector
Our aging population means that the social care sector needs to grow substantially. Care workers are often low paid and under-supported, and yet it is vital that they are well-trained and able to deal appropriately and safely with care situations as they arise. Online learning in the social care sector is typically course-based and focussed on formal qualifications and mandatory training. With low-unit cost in a poorly resourced sector, social care e-learning can often be repetitive, tell-and-test type learning.
To create engaging online learning and performance support which harnesses the learning potential of everyday care work. The care workforce is often dispersed, mobile and time-poor. Budgets are tight, and care managers need staff to learn on the job. Taking substantial chunks of time out to sit down in front of a computer to undertake learning is difficult.
We helped Sara Dunn Associates to win funding from the Ufi to explore how we might use mobile delivery to offer
bite-sized microlearning resources to care workers.
Working with Sara Dunn associates and within the constraints of very limited seed funding, we designed and developed
the Cuppa minimum viable product (MVP). Cuppa is an online performance support mobile-first platform that delivers highly concise, workplace-specific microlearning resources to care staff. Cuppa resources (‘sips’) are bite-sized – a skills boost in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
The Cuppa platform functionality included:
Cuppa was successfully piloted with Jewish Care in 2017. The feedback was very positive. In particular, care workers liked the concept of microlearning.
The project went on to win another, much larger round of UfI funding to develop it further and launch it into the market.
“I liked that they did not get boring, they did not go on with pages of stuff".
"I thought it was brilliantly concise. I think it’s going to be very useful for us".
"It’s not time-consuming. There’s no long words. It’s quite easy to understand and digest".
"Rather than going through a policy of 14 pages, this is just five or ten minutes".
Feedback from the Jewish Care pilot
“We were on a real learning curve with Cuppa, starting with just an idea sketched on piece of paper; Rob and his team were invaluable in helping us turn that into something tangible. LAS were flexible, thoughtful and efficient, and a pleasure to work with.”
Sara Dunn, Cuppa founder
