1009 Everything You Wanted to Know About APIs but Were Afraid to Ask
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Thursday, March 29
Data and Measurement
Salon 5
As learning systems mature, there is an even stronger need to personalize and integrate them. This is possible thanks, in part, to APIs (application programming interfaces). Many learning professionals hear about APIs in their daily workflows but don’t know much about them, which prevents them from being able to comprehend the true potential of these important features.
In this session, you will learn what APIs are and what they are not. The session will explore the technical background of APIs and make them understandable to a general audience by using easy-to-grasp metaphors. You will learn of several use cases for APIs that you can take back to your team. You’ll then see a live demo of how to configure APIs to integrate various search elements of multiple content repositories, in order to give a much more contextualized experience to the learner.
In this session, you will learn:
- What makes up APIs
- How to use APIs to integrate systems
- How APIs are evolving to XAPIs
- How to navigate IT to leverage APIs
- About the security challenges of APIs
- How to do enhanced reporting using APIs
- How to integrate workflows using APIs
- How to personalize content using APIs
Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, developers, and managers.
Technology discussed in this session:
APIs, XAPIs, REST, SOAP calls, Cornerstone OnDemand custom page and CSOD (cloud-based) back end, development servers, JSON, and knowledge repositories.
Duncan Larkin
Digital Learning Innovation Manager
McKinsey & Company
Duncan Larkin is the head of the digital learning innovation team at McKinsey & Company. He is a passionate advocate for simple, elegant, and transformative solutions that push the boundaries of innovation and put the learner first. Duncan is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and the author of two books.