The half-day,medical education-related xAPI Camp hosted by Lurie Children’s Hospital in thebustling heart of downtown Chicago on September 16, 2016, was the fifth campthis year. xAPI is rapidly gaining worldwide adoption, and the proof is in thegrowing and diverse body of working case studies you see at these events. I amamazed and surprised at the work of my fellow xAPI practitioners. We areworking to curate case studies, if you want to view or share your own, at TryxAPI.com.
Figure1: Discussion breakout at xAPI Camp Chicagoon September 16, 2016
Followingare very brief snapshots of the remarks and presentations made by the speakersat this event. You can find more details on some of the presenters andpresentations here.
Norman Gill (eLearning manager, Lurie Children’s Hospital)
Norman Gill’sopening remarks for the camp highlighted Lurie’s commitment to new technology.He is very excited by the possibilities that xAPI offers. This was Lurie’s firstconference, but the hospital is setting up another xAPI Camp for next year.
Sean Putman (VP, learning and development, Altair Engineering)
The firstmanual covering xAPI, InvestigatingPerformance: Design and Outcomes with xAPI, will be available this fall.Sean Putman spoke about data types and presented some prototyping tips forthose looking to use qualitative data to inform and for use in the initialdesign phase for digital learning. Quantitative data is where xAPI really comesinto focus. What do the data mean to you? What does change mean to you? Contextis king. When implemented properly, xAPI provides the observable, measurable, andactionable data we need in instruction.
Dave Bauer (director of learning technologies, MedStar SimulationTraining & Education Lab)
Dave Bauer’spresentation was titled “Enhancing Code Blue Education (Performance) with xAPI.”MedStar has a proprietary LMS, and the group is responsible for providing thetechnology and resources. The group also provides an adaptable learninginfrastructure to MedStar. Dave presented a case study about using xAPI toimprove Code Blue performance with an app and a simulation. Code Blue is atime-sensitive life-saving engagement with teams. Dave presented an extremelycompelling case study on the use of xAPI to baseline and improve performance inthe Code Blue training. His group is planning to start correlating the Code Blueapp training results with Code Blue simulation performance.
Myra Travin (educational futurist)
Myra Travindiscussed using Slack’s canned reporting tools along with xAPI to test adaptivetraining algorithms. Myra is pushing the envelope to understand how people canlearn in an ecosystem like Slack rather than by going through an intermediary(an actual teacher). These learner-controlled environments are going to beuseful in the future.
Jessie Chuang (co-founder, Classroom Aid)
Figure2: Jessie Chuang presents her Classroom Aidcase study at xAPI Camp Chicago
Jessie Chuangpresented a case study involving Classroom Aid—an xAPI-enabled mobile healthsystem with context. Jessie had a vision of a personal health companion, citingBig Hero 6, and this is the visionher work is realizing. She is involved in the xAPI Chinese CoP (community of practice),and her work with Classroom Aid has created an xAPI script for mobile apps.
Jessie stressedthe importance of creating profiles and recipes. Data show that mobile userswill use health apps more and more in the coming years to monitor dailyactivities and to understand the effects on health and quality of life. Hercase study showed a working “smart chair” app that monitored the activity ofwheelchair users with chronic injuries and prescribed physical therapy. Using thosedata, her team created a recommendation engine to help keep these high-riskpatients healthy. The patient is given suggestions to try; the app tracks hisor her attempts and encourages the patient to stay healthy. The goal is to addmore devices and wearables to increase precision.
The futurefor this work is machine learning in which the app and devices supporting thepatient get and give smart guidance. The team also did work in food control of cancerpatients for human-in-the-loop machine learning: The machines collaborate withthe humans. The entire system uses xAPI and a centralized LRS to create acomplete picture.
Nick Washburn (director, learning division, Riptide)
I spokeabout Riptide’s ongoing work in enterprise technologies using xAPI. After a short“about Riptide” section, I briefly touched on multiple implementation diagramsto encourage interested xAPI Camp attendees to have deeper discussions duringand after the camp. Then I demonstrated a case study of a medical-based HTML5app using xAPI to capture a multi-point physical profile as an LRS record. Theapp has a touch-screen interface for a physical therapy professional or doctorto record full-body range of motion, vitals, a step test, posture, photographs,etc. All of the data sections are calculated and tallied individually to anoverall physical condition results tab. The evaluation data and results postedto an LRS allow tracking and plotting over time of changes in patient physicalcondition.
Aaron Silvers (president and executive director, DataInteroperability Standards Consortium, or DISC)
Figure3: Aaron Silvers presents a “State of theIndustry” address at xAPI Camp Chicago
Eventco-organizer Aaron Silvers wrapped the camp up with a summary of the state ofthe industry and next steps. What does someone who does xAPI do? He listedtypical projects that people do when working with xAPI: data strategy, contentstrategy, learning architecture, systems integration, reporting and analytics, andexperience design. There is a growing list of technology partners in xAPI aswell as organizations building their own. Aaron presented some tips on findingtechnology vendors and communities of practice around training topics ofinterest. He spoke about areas of common interest, such as MedBiquitous in thecase of medical, and about use of xAPI. He stressed the importance of allowing easychange of input credentials as one of the questions you should ask technologypartners. He also outlined DISC (Data Interoperability Standards Consortium) focusareas, including services, partnerships, certifications, and stewardship.Certifications for LRSs and for xAPI practitioners are coming in 2017 andbeyond. Aaron mentioned the Jisc effort in the UK, standardizing theentire higher-education platform around xAPI, as a good example of partnershipsin DISC. The DISC community wants to be sure not to make painful breakingchanges with xAPI, as it is being used in production in a growing number ofways. The ADL LRS conformance test suite is in alpha and should be released by theend of 2016. This is very important, as it will allow vendors to prove they arein conformance with xAPI and will ensure xAPI data interoperability.
From the editor—xAPI Camp and xAPICentral at DevLearn: Your access to the movers and shakers in xAPI
Afew years ago, a passionate group of industry professionals began working on anew specification that would replace SCORM, the common standard that hasapplied to eLearning for decades. Over the last few years, that idea hasmatured into the full and active specification known as the Experience API (orxAPI for short).
Moreimportantly, that passionate group of industry professionals drivingunderstanding and adoption of xAPI has also grown tremendously over the years. Beginningin 2012 at mLearnCon (now FocusOn Learning Conference & Expo), TheeLearning Guild has provided a space for conversations and connections amongthis group at its conferences, as well as a platform for the community at largeto learn and understand how xAPI can enhance what is possible in learning anddevelopment.
AtDevLearn Conference & Expo, this tradition continues with thepre-conference xAPI Campexperience, a must-attend event that showcases what is possible with theExperience API, designed to accelerate your work with this transformativetechnology. The xAPI Camp requires separate pre-registration.
Duringthe DevLearn conference itself (November 16 – 18 in Las Vegas), several membersof the foundational xAPI group will present sessions in the Data and Measurementtrack and the Emerging Tech track that will both help you get started with xAPIand optimize your use of this technology.In addition, this year at DevLearn we willprovide a new platform for additional discussions on the Experience API: xAPICentral and the DISC Roundtable.
Thesessions in the Data and Measurement and Emerging Tech tracks, the xAPI Central,and the DISC Roundtable are included in the registration for DevLearn Conference & Expo. Note that certain registration fee discounts are stillavailable: eLearning Guild membership discounts; organizational discounts fornonprofit, government, and academic institutions; group discounts; and studentdiscounts. See the registration information page for complete information, including the discounts that canbe combined for even more substantial savings.
And there’s more thatyou should know about these Experience API bonuses! Keep reading!
What is xAPI Central?
xAPI Central is a dedicated space in the DevLearn Expo Hall. In thisarea, you will be able to connect with a host of vendors that are already usingxAPI in their products. You’ll be able to see actual applications of xAPI inpractice and learn from the vendors that are building them. It’s your one-stop shopto connect with and learn from those who are leading the way for organizationsaround the world to gain insights into learning and performance with theExperience API.
The DISC Roundtable
Many of the vendors in xAPI Central work together through the DataInteroperability Standards Consortium. DISC’s xAPI Roundtable will serve as themain hub of xAPI Central. At the DISC Roundtable, you’ll be able to learn aboutall of the different vendors and organizations currently supporting andleveraging xAPI. Informal discussions will be scheduled throughout expo hours whereyou can learn from and chat with recognized industry leaders in xAPI. The DISCRoundtable is also where you’ll be able to learn about the work being donethrough DISC to shape where vendors and stakeholders take xAPI in the future.It is a definitive source of credible, factual, and unbiased informationaddressing this growing community of vendors and organizational stakeholdersthat are collaborating to make sure different enterprise software, applications,and data using xAPI work together.
