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The '''Tin CanExperience [[API]]''' (xAPI), now officiallyformerly known as the Experience''Tin Can API (xAPI),'' is an e-learning software specification that allows learning content and learning systems to speak to each other in a manner that records and tracks all types of learning experiences.<ref name="Learning Solutions Magazine">{{cite web|last=Brandon|first=Bill|title=Making History: mLearnCon 2012 Rocks Attendees|url=http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/958/|work=Making History: mLearnCon 2012 Rocks Attendees|publisher=Learning Solutions Magazine|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref> Learning experiences are recorded in a [[Learning Record Store]] (LRS). LRSs can exist within traditional [[Learning Management Systems]] (LMSs) or on their own.<ref name="ASTD interview with Aaron Silvers">{{cite web|last=Brusino|first=Justin|title=THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCORM: A Q&A WITH AARON SILVERS|url=http://www.astd.org/Publications/Newsletters/Learning-Circuits/Learning-Circuits-Archives/2012/06/The-Next-Generation-of-SCORM-a-Q-and-a-with-Aaron-Silvers|work=THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCORM: A Q&A WITH AARON SILVERS|publisher=American Society for Training and Development|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>
==Summary==
The Tin CanExperience API is commonly referredconsidered tothe assuccessor "The Experience API" and "Next Generationto [[SCORM]]". SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) has been the de facto e-learning standard for packaging e-learning content to be delivered to LMSs.{{cn|date=October 2014}} However, there are several drawbacks to SCORM.<ref name="The Training Business (Andy)">{{cite web|last=Whitaker|first=Andy|title=An Introduction to the Tin Can API|url=http://www.thetrainingbusiness.com/softwaretools/tin-can-api/|work=An Introduction to the Tin Can API|publisher=The Training Business|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Saltbox Developers Discuss Tin Can">{{cite web|title=Saltbox Developers Discuss Tin Can|url=http://floatlearning.com/2012/07/saltbox-developers-discuss-tin-can/|work=Saltbox Developers Discuss Tin Can|publisher=Float Mobile Learning|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref> The Tin CanExperience API allows for several new capabilities that SCORM didn't, such as:
*Taking e-learning outside of the web browser<ref name="SFGate / eLogic Press Release">{{cite web|title=eLogic Learning Partners with Rustici Software to be an Early Adopter of the Next Generation of SCORM Standards Known as the 'Tin Can API'|url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/eLogic-Learning-Partners-with-Rustici-Software-to-3662367.php|work=eLogic Learning Partners with Rustici Software to be an Early Adopter of the Next Generation of SCORM Standards Known as the 'Tin Can API'|publisher=SFGate|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>
*Tracking learning plans and goals<ref>{{cite web|last=Downes|first=Andrew|title=I Want This: Tin Can Plans, Goals and Targets|url=http://tincanapi.co.uk/pages/I_Want_This.html|accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref>
The Tin CanExperience API is an [[open source]] API. It is a [[Representational state transfer]] web service that uses [[JavaScript Object Notation]] for its data format. The web service allows software clients to read and write experiential data in the form of “statement” objects. In their simplest form, statements are in the form of “I did this”, or more generally “actor verb object”.<ref name="Saltbox Developers Discuss Tin Can" /> More complex statement forms can be used. There is also a built in query API to help filter recorded statements, and a state API that allows for a sort of “scratch space” for consuming applications.
==History==
SCORM is over ten years old, and [[Advanced Distributed Learning]] (ADL), the stewards of SCORM, recognized the need for a newer and more capable software specification.<ref name="ASTD interview with Aaron Silvers" />
ADL issued a [[Broad Agency Announcement]] (BAA) asking for assistance in improving SCORM. The BAA was awarded to [http://scorm.com Rustici Software], a leaderNashville-based insoftware thecompany industryexperienced ofwith e-learning interoperability softwareSCORM.<ref name="Float Mobile Tim and Aaron Videos">{{cite web|last=Tillett|first=Jeff|title=Project Tin Can – The Next Generation of SCORM|url=http://floatlearning.com/2012/04/project-tin-can-the-next-generation-of-scorm/|work=Project Tin Can – The Next Generation of SCORM|publisher=Float Mobile Learning|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref> Rustici Software then conducted numerous interviews with the e-learning community to determine which factors were most important to improve upon, and developed the research version of the Tin CanExperience API specification. This process was called [http://scorm.com/tincanoverview/ Project Tin Can].<ref name="ADL Project Tin Can Research Summary">{{cite web|title=ADL Project Tin Can Research Summary|url=http://www.adlnet.gov/capabilities/next-generation-scorm/tin-can#tab-research|work=ADL Project Tin Can Research Summary|publisher=Advanced Distributed Learning|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>
The Tin CanExperience API was released as version 1.0 in April of 2013. There are currently over 80 adopters (15 July 2014).<ref name="Tin Can API: Current Adopters">{{cite web|title=Tin Can API: Current Adopters|url=http://tincanapi.com/what-is-tin-can/adopters/|work=TinCanAPI.com|publisher=Rustici Software|accessdate=30 July 2012}}</ref>
==Current Status==
The Tin CanExperience API is currently at [http://www.adlnet.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/xAPI_v1.0.1-2013-10-01.pdf 1.0.1]. <ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Andy|title=From ADL Team Member… Andy Johnson: Experience API (xAPI) version 1.0.1 released|url=http://www.adlnet.gov/experience-api-xapi-version-1-0-1-released/|publisher=ADL|accessdate=10/2/13}}</ref>
Previous versions include:
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