Bite-sized nuggets offer real-time learning

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On Dec. 12, 2022, broker C.H. Robinson settled a long-running lawsuit with Allen Miller, who was left paralyzed from a crash involving a tractor-trailer truck that was hauling a load contracted by C.H. Robinson.

The case highlights the vulnerability any organization that contracts with a carrier faces. In an age of law firms anxious to file suit against anyone involved in a truck-related crash, it brings to light the ability to provide continuous training, especially as potentially dangerous behaviors are identified by companies.

Dr. Gina Anderson, CEO of microlearning platform Luma Brighter Learning, tells Supply Chain Management Review that microlearning is a way for companies to document continuous training.

“I’ve had a few experiences with clients having to take the documents to court,” she said. “What legal is looking for is those multiple attempts and something authentic to see that you have done something authentic [to document the training].”

While microlearning is often affiliated with truck driver training as a way to reinforce certain skills or correct poor driving behaviors such as speeding, it is growing in acceptance across industry, and supply chain businesses are no different.

What is microlearning?

“When I think of microlearning, I think about it from a neuroscience perspective,” Anderson says. “To understand the science behind how we learn is critical in (key situations). Our minds have been studying the YouTube generation and YouTube videos and when our minds start to drift. Once you get their attention, when is it before our minds start to wander? Recent studies are showing around 8 to 9 seconds.”

Luma delivers bite-sized trainings in what is calls “e-nuggets” which can be single e-nuggets or a series of e-nuggets.

“The idea is you get the most essential information an e-nugget,” Anderson notes. “Microlessons really help you become sophisticated in aligning content in a way that you can process and remember.”

These e-nuggets can be delivered as needed, or at a specific point in time, such as navigating hazards in a parking lot. The driver can access the appropriate e-nugget and watch a quick video as a refresher for the situation.

“[Drivers] plan their days down to the minute, so you have to be very direct in what you give them so you are not giving them too much information,” explains Isaac Harmon, safety director for CPC Logistics, which is a Luma client. “If you are doing winter driving, you want to give them just winter driving. Luma has shown us how to customize our learning paths by client. We have general training paths and specific training paths. We don’t want to flood a new hire [with information] that is not really relevant to them, so we tailor and customize.”

CPC has more than 150 truck drivers that have surpassed 1 million miles without an accident or injury.

Supply chain training

Anderson says Luma is able to create e-nugget learnings for almost any industry, although many of its clients are in the trucking space. The concept is the same, though—break down larger learning topics into small, bite-sized and easily remembered content.

“You can reinforce micro, short conversations; you can do a live session and document that. You can track that and see that 9 times and they didn’t change their behavior,” she said.

Luma takes snapshots of how long people spend with the training, so the information is always documented.

“From a safety standpoint, one of the things you are always fighting is complacency, whether that is in a warehouse or in a truck,” Harmon notes. “One of the things I like about the on-demand learning from Luma is whenever a driver does something [wrong], we can assign a training immediately. We don’t have to wait for them to come into the office.”

The same holds in warehouses and elsewhere. Anderson says Luma simply needs the relevant information and can create e-nugget training on the topic.

“Typically, what happens in an orientation is people are brought to a class for four or five days and given a lot of information and then they leave,” Anderson says. “An e-nugget can repeat that information at later times. The average learning is plus or minus 7 times (meaning people need to hear it seven times to remember it). With e-nuggets, they can be buried in the content of orientation and the idea is to then use them later. This is adult learning theory. It can be applied to any topic or industry.”

Customizable options

The other advantage of microlearning is the ability to customize it. Short videos can be create quickly and customized based on the situation. Anderson says that truck drivers can scan a location with their phone camera to get a customized parking e-nugget. A store or warehouse manager can scan their building to get a lesson that “is as close to relevant to what the user is going through as possible.”

“[Drivers] plan their days down to the minute, so you have to be very direct in what you give them so you are not giving them too much information. If you are doing winter driving, you want to give them just winter driving. Luma has shown us how to customize our learning paths by client. We have general training paths and specific training paths. We don’t want to flood a new hire [with information] that is not really relevant to them, so we tailor and customize.”

That flexibility in microlearning allows businesses to create the content they need at a time when their workers need it. It also creates a more realistic experience.

“Generic is harder to remember in recall than something that is authentic,” Anderson says.

Luma is available in over 40 languages and can include closed captions for translation. In a supply chain that is diverse and global, that is a powerful option for global businesses, allowing it to create a single training and have it tailored for the location and language.

“The idea is not only short, but authentic, micro lessons that are impactful,” Anderson sums up.

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