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The '''Experience [[API]]''' ('''xAPI'''), alsoformerly known as the '''Tin Can API''', 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 Experience API (Tin Can API) is commonly considered the successor to [[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,<ref>.{{cite webcn|last1date=Batt|first1=Brian|title=How to Explain AICC, SCORM 1.2, and SCORM 2004 to Anyone|url=http://www.elearningfreak.com/featured/how-to-explain-aicc-scorm-12-and-scorm-2004-to-anyone/|website=eFront Learning|accessdate=21 October 20152014}}</ref> butHowever, 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 new Experience API allows trainers to deployfor several new capabilities that wereSCORM not supported with SCORMdidn'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>
*The ability to track real-world performance<ref name="Upside Learning">{{cite web|last=Gautam|first=Amit|title=Tin Can: My First Impressions From mLearnCon 2012|url=http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2012/06/21/tin-can-my-first-impressions-from-mlearncon-2012/|work=Tin Can: My First Impressions From mLearnCon 2012|publisher=Upside Learning|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>
*Team-based e-learning<ref name="ASTD interview with Aaron Silvers" />
*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 Experience API (Tin Can API) is an [[open source]] API. It is a [[Representational state transfer]] web service that uses [[JavaScript Object Notation]] (JSON) 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==
InSCORM 2011is over ten years old, and [[Advanced Distributed Learning]] (ADL), the [[United States Department of Defense]]-sponsored stewards of SCORM, recognized the need for a newer and more capable software specification than the original SCORM specification, which was then more than ten years old.<ref name="ASTD interview with Aaron Silvers" /> To address the need, ADL issued a [[Broad Agency Announcement]] (BAA) asking for assistance in improving SCORM, and the BAA was awarded to [http://scorm.com Rustici Software], a Nashville-based software company experienced with SCORM.<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>
ADL issued a [[Broad Agency Announcement]] (BAA) asking for assistance in improving SCORM. The BAA was awarded to [http://scorm.com Rustici Software], a Nashville-based software company experienced with SCORM.<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 wherewhich factors were most important to makeimprove improvementsupon, and then developed the research version of the Experience 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 moniker "Tin Can API" was derived from Project Tin Can, and is still used interchangeably with the name "Experience API".<ref>https://www.trainingindustry.com/wiki/entries/experience-api-%28tin-can-api%29.aspx</ref>
The Experience API was released as version 1.0 in April of 2013. There are currently over 16080 adopters (1915 JanuaryJuly 20162014).<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==
PreviousThe versionsExperience include:API [https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec/tree/1.0.2is 1.0.2].,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> ▼The current version of the specification is [https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec/blob/1.0.3/xAPI.md 1.0.3]. Released early October 2016. <ref>https://www.adlnet.gov/newest-version-of-xapi-version-1-0-3/</ref><ref>https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec</ref> There are no plans for any minor updates to the specification. <ref>https://www.adlnet.gov/interviewing-xapi-spec-group-organizer/</ref>
Previous versions include:
▲Previous versions include: [https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec/tree/1.0.2 1.0.2]., [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>
[https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec/blob/1.0.0/xAPI.md 1.0.0].<ref>{{cite web|last=Downes|first=Andrew|title=TinCanAPI.co.uk|url=http://www.tincanapi.co.uk|accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref>
[http://www.adlnet.gov/resources/Tin_Can_Draft_Specification?type=technical_documentation version 0.8] (official output of the BAA)<ref name="ADLnet.gov Tin Can Draft Specification">{{cite web|title=ADLnet.gov Tin Can Draft Specification|url=http://www.adlnet.gov/resources/Tin_Can_Draft_Specification?type=technical_documentation|work=ADLnet.gov|publisher=Advanced Distributed Learning|accessdate=30 July 2012}}</ref> and [http://tincanapi.com/developers/resources/docs-downloads/ version 0.9] (research version specification)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://www.adlnet.gov/adl-research/performance-tracking-analysis/experience-api/ ADL's official website]
* [http://experienceapi.com Rustici Software's website]
[[Category:Application programming interfaces]]
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