xAPI Camp Toronto 2015: The Evolution of a Spec

As the groundswell of excitement around the Experience API(xAPI) grows, the Connections Forumhosted their fourth xAPI camp of2015 in conjunction with the Institute for Performance and Learning in Toronto last month.

While this, like previous xAPI Camps, highlighted creativeuses of xAPI, the focus of discussions has evolved from “things we can do,”through “things we have done,” and now solidly into “interoperability andstandardization.” This evolution shows that xAPI is being incorporated as anintegral part of the learning ecosystem—not merely a new technology fad.

What is xAPI?

For a little background, xAPI is an open-sourcespecification for recording learning experiences using a simple<actor><verb><object> activity stream. This data is stored ina Learning Records Store or LRS. The development effort, led by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative,sought a way to track experiences from multiple sources—software applications,mobile devices, enterprise systems, in situ workplace sensors, and eventraditional learning technologies. Essentially any device or application withthe proper credentials can write statements about a person’s activities to an LRS.The LRS can then be queried to track and report on these activities, identifytrends in workplace behavior, and even provide adaptive coaching or learningopportunities for students in real-time.

After the first release of xAPI 1.0 in the spring of 2013, anumber of innovative learning and human performance professionals began usingthe technology—often leveraging the specification to meet specific businessneeds that they could not easily meet before in the absence of student activitydata. The xAPI Camp archives and TryxAPI websites bothhost a number of these case studies.

xAPI Camp presentations in Toronto

Fast forward to the end of 2015, and xAPI is the hot topicof discussion at learning trade shows and publications. Companies like Saltbox, Watershed and LearningLocker have released LearningRecords Stores. Authoring tools have begun incorporating the ability to sendxAPI statements, and plug-ins are available to write xAPI statements to an LRSfrom independent systems such as blogs, social media sites, and even YouTube. But,as with any new and particularly open standard, the focus has quickly shiftedto portability. With so many independent systems writing to one LRS Database,how do we keep all this data straight and make it useful?

Aaron Silvers, partner in Making Better and host of the event, set thestage at the most recent xAPI Camp with a review of xAPI vocabulary and a Stateof the Industry update. Highlighting topics other presenters would coverin-depth, Aaron also focused on the concerted effort for standardization andbuilding a community of xAPI-compliant products that play nicely together. Thedevelopment of xAPI “Recipes” is one standardization effort where commonprotocols for xAPI verbs and their use can be common across an industry or usecase. For example, if tracking xAPI statements about a user’s interaction witha video, it’s important that different video players record actions like“fast-forwarding” the same way. If one system uses the verb “advance” andanother uses “skip” to describe the same function in an activity stream itbecomes very difficult to report on these activities together. One of thethings Aaron alluded to in his introduction was the future direction of theData Interoperability Standards Consortium or DISC, a non-profit organizationformed to manage certification of xAPI compliant products, handle specificationmaintenance, and drive communication around the standard. In 2016, watch asDISC activities ramp up with xAPI testing programs and working groups form tohelp standardize xAPI Recipes.

Speaking of recipes and consistency, Sean Putman, Vice President ofLearning Development for Altair Engineeringand owner of Itellectus Learning gave a presentation on the State of AuthoringTools during the Toronto Camp. Sean reviewed three tools; Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora by Trivantis. All three tools doprovide the ability to send xAPI statements to an LRS. Sean drove home thecriticality of good slide-, page-, and question-naming conventions within theseauthoring tools so that activity statements in the LRS are more logical. Healso recommended creating additional “clicked”-state slides, to help furthertrack where a student is within a module when he or she interacts with thecontent. A good bit of discussion was dedicated to using standard or cannedverbs versus creating your own verbs for content interaction. Sean’srecommendation was to check with communities of practice that may have alreadyestablished a vocabulary defining how different verbs can be used. Some ofthese issues, from an authoring tool standpoint, will be resolved with theADL’s new cmi5 Protocol.

cmi5 is essentially a super-Recipe that creates a baseprotocol for how xAPI is used in a very specific scenario—the launching ofcontent from an LMS. cmi5, first released in May 2015 as a beta, willultimately become the replacement for SCORM built on more modern, constant, andsecure technology. One goal of cmi5 is the interoperability of modules betweendifferent learning management systems just like its predecessors, SCORM andAICC. Because cmi5 uses xAPI as its communication layer, and leverages thepower of an LRS in addition to an LMS, it also provides advantages like ContentAs A Service, the ability to record and retrieve user-created data to/from theLRS, as well as the sharing of data across multiple learning activities. Oh,and did I mention that it requires no pop-up windows like SCORM and AICCcontent?

To demonstrate how cmi5 works in practice, I had theopportunity to share with the Camp the launching of a cmi5 module that acts asa Statement Generator from the RISC LMS. Once open, and the LMS window closed,the statement generator could be used to send xAPI statements to an LRS and,upon meeting the passing criteria, the completion records displayed in the LMS.Other LMS providers interested in becoming cmi5-compliant can access this free cmi5statement generator from GitHub.

Megan Torrance,President of Torrance Learning,maintained the concept of living in a post-SCORM world with her presentation onDay Hikes in xAPI suggesting to start small when venturing into xAPI. Organizationscare about the correlation between improved learning and better organizationalperformance—no one will buy-into xAPI as a technology without seeing thislinkage. Megan went on to discuss clues that can help guide an xAPI projectincluding the context, the nature of the experience to be tracked, and who willinitiate the learning activity. The theme of managing a development projectcontinued through the Metrix Group’s Rob Christie discussing effectivecommunicating in project teams from a developer’s point of view.

As Camp drew to a close, a number of other unique applicationsof xAPI were discussed. Educational Futurist Myra Travin discussed the criticalityof Learning Personalization in a mobile workforce and the benefits of xAPI datato aid with personalization. Myra reminded the group never to confusetechnology with strategy. Learners must remain the focus of your L&DStrategy, and technology should be leveraged where it can be to supportlearners. Mary Meyers, Lead Advisorfor Leadership and Learning at Kingston General Hospital, discussed the potential role of xAPI in patient-centered care andemployee engagement. While on the HR and employee performance track, Mark Sheppard, founding Member ofWorkplace Insiders, posed a question to the group, ”How can xAPI data be usedto reduce the total cost of recruiting and hiring?” More specifically, “Whatare key indicators that can be tracked from initial screening of candidatesthrough onboarding and their first year that correspond to retention andperformance?”

Upcoming events

After a full day of lively discussion, presentations, andbreakout groups, the room was buzzing with excitement about the possibilitiesxAPI brings to the table and the benefits already being realized by companiesworking on the cutting edge of tying experience data to workplace performanceand success. If you are interested in becoming part of the conversation, attendone of the three already scheduled xAPI Camps of 2016:

• San Francisco, California – February 11
• Orlando, Florida – March 15
• London, England - April 22
• Austin, Texas – June 7 (registration opening soon!)