The xAPI and the LMS: What Does the Future Hold?

(Editor’s Note: This is the last of five articles by Steve Foreman on learning management systems.)

Howmuch longer will the LMS remain relevant? Learning is bursting out of theclassroom and becoming informal, social, and mobile. How can learning be “managed”in settings where there are no class rosters and no registrations or completionsto count? To many organizations, the future of learning management systems seemsunclear.

Ofcourse, the LMS’s ability to track formal instruction is still important tomany organizations, especially in areas such as compliance, safety, onboarding,and baseline skill development. But traditionally, LMS products have not beenvery useful in managing learning that happens in the workplace throughactivities such as coaching, knowledge sharing, professional networking, workassignments, and other work experiences.

Inthis article, I’ll explore the Experience API (xAPI) and its potential toadvance our ability to manage emerging learning models that seamlesslyintegrate learning with working.

Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) standards: SCORM & xAPI

ADLis a standards body that began as a joint project of the US Department ofDefense and the Department of Labor, and with industry participation. You mayknow ADL as the organization that brought us the SCORM standard.

SCORM, which is an acronym for SharableContent Object Reference Model, is a standard specification for publishing,launching, and tracking eLearning and it remains a dominant standard in theeLearning industry. Essentially, SCORM-compliant eLearning courses caninteroperate with any learning management system that also supports SCORM.

First published in 2000, theyupdated SCORM several times over the next decade. Many eLearning authoringtools and LMS products support the SCORM standard.

Since2009, not much has happened with SCORM, which they designed for use withtraditional eLearning design. SCORM is ill equipped to handle non-traditionallearning that is informal, social, and mobile.

Around2010, ADL recognized a need to define an updated standard that could overcomemany of SCORM’s inherent limitations. SCORM is constrained to tracking specificcourse-oriented things like lesson pages viewed, test scores, and modulecompletions. SCORM also relies on JavaScript, which makes it difficult toimplement in mobile apps.

In2011, Rustici Software received a contract to research and define the newstandard. During its R&D phase, they called the project “Tin Can.” Releasedon April 26, 2013, the standard is officially named the “Experience API” andoften referred to as “xAPI.”

What’s in a name?

Unfortunately,all three names (Tin Can, Experience API, and xAPI) are in use today. Having threecompeting names for a new technology standard is confusing. How can anyoneexpect the marketplace to adopt a standard when the sponsors can’t even agreeon what to call it? It would be fine if the names actually were synonyms foreach other. xAPI is an acronym for Experience API, so using those twointerchangeably makes some sense. However, the names Tin Can and Experience API(or xAPI) represent two different concepts. “Tin Can” tends to be more relevantto the IT community, while “Experience” is more relevant to learningprofessionals.

It’seasy to understand the IT perspective. Some of us have played the children’sgame where you connect two tin cans via a string. When the string is taut, andone child speaks into the can at one end of the string, another child can listenthrough the second can. Since the API enables two software applications tocommunicate with one another, this metaphor makes sense and may resonate withsome people, particularly programmers and IT professionals. The name, Tin CanAPI, is focused on how the API works.

Froma learning perspective, the name Experience API is focused on how instructionaldesigners and learning professionals can apply the API. Why call it ExperienceAPI instead of Tin Can? Because the Experience API enables us to designlearning programs that incorporate, not just formal lessons, quizzes, andtests, but all sorts of experienceswhere learning may occur.

Sincethe objective of the new standard is to meet the needs of the learningcommunity, hopefully, the pre-release Tin Can moniker will be dropped in favorof the official and much more compelling name, Experience API, or even theabbreviated xAPI. I’m only going to use Experience API or xAPI in the rest ofthis article.

What is the Experience API?

Theterm API (application programming interface) is broadly used throughout thesoftware industry. It generally refers to a library of programming functionsthat software developers can use to integrate two or more separate softwareapplications.

TheExperience API is significantly different from SCORM. Unlike SCORM, the xAPI isnot limited to eLearning courses or learning management systems. As a standard,it describes how you can interface any software application with a system thatstores and reports on learning data, such as a learning management system.

Anytype of software or system that has been xAPI enabled can generate Experience APIdata. The xAPI operates based on activity streams, a model that uses software totrack things people do. The idea of tracking activity streams emerged fromsocial networking and is used by sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus.

TheExperience API makes it possible to track activities that people do usingcomputers such as performing work tasks, producing work outputs, interactingwith others using social media, achieving milestones in games and simulations,and just about any other activity that one can observe or record.

How does the Experience API work?

Imaginethat your LMS can communicate, not just with eLearning courses, but also withknowledge bases, collaboration platforms, document management systems,enterprise resource planning systems, helpdesk systems, portals, talentmanagement, performance management, and other types of systems used in theworkplace. The learning management system may track not only attendance,completions, and test scores, but actual work inputs, outputs, deliverables,tasks, and more.

TheExperience API describes learning activities as statements. Each statement iscomprised of an actor, an action, and an object. I (actor) did (action) this (object) (see Figure 1).

Figure1: Actor, action, and object used to track and store experienceas an activity statement

Whena user performs a pre-defined action in an enterprise portal that is xAPIenabled, it fulfills an xAPI activity statement. This activity statement describesa learning experience.

Forexample, your organization may offer a performance-support solution that helpsnew employees submit vouchers. When a new employee, named John, successfullysubmits a completed voucher via the company’s portal, it records an xAPIactivity statement. The learner’s experience is then relayed to a LearningRecord Store (LRS) (again, refer to Figure 1).

What is the difference between an LRS and an LMS?

Basically,an LRS is a database where each learner’s xAPI activity statements (in otherwords, the learning records) are stored. It can be seamlessly built into an LMSor it can be a standalone product.

AnLMS that has a built-in LRS supports the Experience API and also does all theother things LMS products do to manage learning delivery.

Astand-alone LRS supports the Experience API’s tracking and reporting, but itcannot do all the other things an LMS can do such as scheduling training,enabling self-registration, handling notifications and approvals, providing certificates,or managing instructors, facilities, and resources, etc.

xAPI example

Anexample of a learning program expressed in Experience API statements illustratesthe power of this concept. In this example, Jane is a management trainee whohas never written a project proposal, yet her new job requires that she do so.

Jane’smanager is aware that the learning department offers a learning program forpeople in the organization with similar professional-development needs. Thelearning program involves formal training and work assignments. The learningdepartment runs an LMS report showing that 80 percent of employees whocompleted the learning program generated a winning proposal that earned revenuefor the company.

Jane’smanager decides to use the learning program. The learning program starts withformal training followed by a set of tasks that Jane completes with coachingfrom her manager.

Thecompany’s portal and LMS are Experience API enabled. The portal collects dataon Jane’s activities and sends that data to the LMS, which generates an xAPI activitystream as Jane goes through the program.

Table1 contains a list of the proposal-writing learning program xAPI statements. Theoriginating system is the system that generates the statement and reports itback to the LMS. All of the following statements are tracked via the xAPI.

At any point, Jane’s manager is able to access a report from the LMS on Jane’sprogress. After the first two statements, which are programs the learningdepartment traditionally offers, the remaining statements reflect on-the-jobwork assignments, coaching, and accomplishments. The xAPI tracks all of thesestatements. Jane was able to learn while producing work outputs and results. Thisblend of learning and working is a powerful model.

Industry adoptionof the Experience API

Someof the first products to implement the Experience API are eLearning authoringtools and some learning management systems. A second wave may follow withadditional learning management systems, mobile learning apps, and instructionalgames and simulations becoming xAPI enabled.

Someinnovative LMS products may add an administrator interface for manuallyentering and updating API statements and learner records. This approach wouldenable learning organizations to incorporate informal learning activities intheir learning programs without relying on external systems to support theExperience API. For example, Jane’s manager could simply log on to the LMS andattest to the fact that Jane has completed a step in the learning program.

Enterprisesoftware applications such as portals, knowledge bases, and collaborative workspacesoffer even greater opportunities for learning design using the Experience API. WhenxAPI-enabled versions of these sorts of widely used business applications becomeavailable, learning developers will be able to seamlessly integrate learning activitiesinto the workflow. However, since the xAPI is a learning-industry standard, theenterprise system vendors may not be aware of the standard. Training and ITwill need to work together to drive xAPI implementation in enterprise-softwareapplications.

Severalaspects of the xAPI will continue to be refined, including its governance. Whilethe standard specifies a list of actions or verbs (for example, “Jane created,” or “Jane attended”) that can be used in xAPI statements, vendors that buildthe xAPI into their products can add additional custom verbs. The xAPI verbregistry will allow addition of custom verbs to the official list, uponapproval by a governance group.

Fornow, LMS companies must decide which eLearning authoring tool and mobileplatform will support using vendors’ custom verbs. We must resolve these, and other issues, to make adoption of the xAPIeasier for all involved.

ADL’s Training and Learning Architecture

TheAdvanced Distributed Learning organization has a broader vision of the futureof learning technologies, called the Training and Learning Architecture (TLA). TheADL vision consist of four key components: experiencetracking, competency infrastructure,content brokering, and learner profiles.

TheExperience API covers experience tracking,the first of the four components implemented. The competency infrastructure will describe learning goals in the formof objectives, tasks, competencies, context, and performance standards. The content brokering portion will tag,index, and deliver learning content. Learnerprofiles will tag and describe learners.

Essentially,the TLA promises to provide a standard framework for describing learningexperiences, learning goals, learning content, and learning audiences. Together,these standards will enable learning-management systems to deliver and track amore engaging, relevant, and personalized user experience.

Ofcourse, none of this replaces the judgment, creativity, and skills ofinstructional designers and the rigor of a solid instructional design process. Thisnew xAPI standard has a lot to offer, but proper application of the art andscience of learning is still what really matters. In order to take greatestadvantage of the Experience API, we will have to expand our notions of whateffective learning is (i.e., not just formal training), and incorporate thesenew ideas into our instructional design and work processes.

Concluding thoughts

Whilewidespread adoption of the Experience API may take some time, the concept ofexperience-based learning programs is exciting. Systems used in the daily flowof work will be able to interface with learning management systems to capturemilestones and tasks performed by workers and track them in the context oflearning.

TheExperience API offers great potential for the convergence of working andlearning and offers an opportunity for the learning function to demonstrate amore direct and measurable impact on the organization’s success than everbefore. The opportunity to provide structure, guidance, and metrics aroundlearning that occurs through work experiences and coaching increasesopportunities for level-four learning program evaluation. (See the RelatedArticles list and the References, both at the end of this article.) Now we cancombine formal and informal learning in new ways that advance the goal fromlearning gain to performance improvement.

ThexAPI provides opportunities for greater training and HR collaboration to createstronger linkages between learning and talent management. Employee developmentis an integral part of career planning, succession planning, and performancemanagement. The ability to formalize and track work accomplishments and jobassignments along with formal learning programs offers new opportunities forsynergy in combining methods for developing employees.

Evenwithout the Experience API, LMS products will continue to be important. Organizationshave an ever-present need for the types of training programs an LMS manages. But,as the Experience API becomes more prevalent, LMS products will need to step upand support it in order to remain relevant and meet the increasing focus onworkplace-based learning.

References

Kirkpatrick, Donald. Evaluating Training Programs, 3^rd ed. Berret-KoehlerPublishers, 2006.