A potentially game-changing technology for L&D teams, xAPIholds out the promise of gathering and using more complete data on learningactivity and its impact than has ever been possible before. In choosingto move to an xAPI-enabled learning and performance ecosystem, an organizationundertakes two key shifts: The first is capturing data from a wider variety ofsources and documenting all types of learning activities—using xAPI’s commonsyntax. The second is exploring how and where to store all of the data the newxAPI system gathers and deciding how to make the best use of it.
An xAPI ecosystem allows eLearning designers and developersto capture,send, and use a vast amount of data about the learning experience,including:
- Capture data with an eLearning authoring tool:Leading authoring tools provide at least minimal support for xAPI as part oftheir out-of-the box offerings; some offer very rich options.
- Send data from another type of learning tool:When investigating new learning technology, ask whether there is an existing orin-development xAPI integration for your interoperable ecosystem.
- Wrap content in a tool that does the xAPIcoding for you: This makes it possible to capture data from learningexperiences that don’t fit the typical LMS-cataloged eLearning course profile.
- Write custom code: Using xAPI is not adifficult task for experienced developers; L&D teams that are writing newsoftware can easily do it using xAPI.
- Export and convert data from other systems:This may be a meaningful stopgap measure to get performance and business data fromsystems outside of the L&D environment.
While capturing learning data may be completely within thecapability and scope of the L&D function, building an ecosystem to receive,store, and analyze all of the data an xAPI ecosystem can capture generally requiresa larger effort. This involves multiple departments and considerations, andgenerally more investment, to accomplish.
LMS, LRS, or both?
Two types of systems provide the foundation of anxAPI-enabled ecosystem: the LMS and the LRS.
Most large organizations already have at least one learningmanagement system, or LMS. The LMS has taken a beating in recent years forbeing an inflexible, cumbersome, closed system. The very nature of the SCORMspecification at the heart of many LMSs is a contributing factor to that. Inaddition, LMSs reflect a historically centralized and one-size-fits-allapproach to providing organizational learning.
Modern learning approaches call for a decentralized, morepersonalized, less LMS-centric environment, although the core functions offeredby an LMS remain very relevant for many organizations.
In an xAPI ecosystem, a learning record store, or LRS, isthe database that accepts, stores, and allows for retrieval of xAPI data. TheAdvanced Distributed Learning group in the US Department of Defense (the samepeople who created SCORM) offers an LRS conformance test suite thatvendors can use to certify that their LRS meets the xAPI specification. Thisconformance certification provides organizations the assurance that the LRSwill handle data in the interoperable way that is understood by the industry.Most commercial LRS products offer dataanalytics and visualizations that go above and beyond thespecification, allowing L&D teams to get the most out of their data.
Note that some eLearning authoring tools use earlierversions of the xAPI specification. Several commercial LRSs will accept theseolder statements, even though doing so is technically non-conformant. Carefulconsumers will ask both the LRS vendor and the authoring tool vendor aboutsupported versions—and make their choices accordingly.
How do these two systems work together in an xAPI-enabledenvironment? There are a number of possible approaches to deciding whether and howto integrate xAPI with an LMS:
- LMS withLRS inside: An LMS with the xAPI LRS alongside the SCORM and AICC databasesthat are likely already there offers a very simple all-in-one solution. In thisenvironment, the LMS provides hosting, centralized search, and the dynamic dataabout people, their job roles, and reporting structures; these provideadditional context for xAPI activity.
- LMS is anactivity provider: Some LMSs are choosing to adopt xAPI by becomingactivity providers themselves, sending information about course activity,completions, enrollments, and other LMS functions—including data aboutinstructor-led and virtual classroom sessions—to any compatible external LRS.
- LMS withLRS alongside: Barring any activity from the LMS with respect to xAPI,implementing a “sidecar LRS” allows the L&D team to begin using and gainingfrom xAPI while maintaining the structure provided by the LMS.
- LRS only:For organizations that have very simple requirements around managing learningand learning assets and no compliance requirements, an LRS-only approach isvery simple to implement.
- LRS withBI: Organizations with strongbusiness intelligence functions will likely choose this route. Inthis case, the LRS is the clearinghouse for all L&D data, and it exportsdata to the BI software for further analysis with business data.
The fluidity of data in xAPI allows for more connectionamong learning platforms than ever before. This means that in more complexenvironments with several LMSs and LRSs, a single “binding LRS” can be used asthe single source of truth—the master record from which audit reports can berun.
As Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben says, “With great power comes greatresponsibility.” With xAPI, that wise saying could be adjusted to: “With greatinteroperability comes great responsibility.” xAPI affords the challenge—andthe opportunity—to rethink how L&D’s infrastructure supports the business. Explorethe possibilities of an xAPI-enabled ecosystem at xAPICamp, a co-located event with The eLearning Guild’s DevLearn218 Conference & Expo, Oct. 24 – 26 in Las Vegas. Be sure tovisit the xAPICentral Showcase in the Expo Hall.
