Experience API: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:17, 14 August 2019

Revision as of 02:41, 29 September 2019

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The '''Experience [[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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806005118/http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/958/|archive-date=6 August 2012|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</ref> Learning experiences are recorded in a [[Learning Record Store]] (LRS). LRSs can exist within traditional [[learning management system]]s (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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822192026/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|archive-date=22 August 2014|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</ref>

==Summary==

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*Platform transition; e.g. start e-learning on a mobile device, finish it on a computer<ref name="SFGate / eLogic Press Release" />

*The ability to track games and simulations<ref name="ASTD interview with Aaron Silvers" />

*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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827182001/http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2012/06/21/tin-can-my-first-impressions-from-mlearncon-2012/|archive-date=27 August 2012|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724021542/http://tincanapi.co.uk/pages/I_Want_This.html|archive-date=24 July 2013|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</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.

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In 2011 [[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 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 conducted numerous interviews with the e-learning community to determine where to make improvements and then developed the research version of the Experience API specification. This process was called 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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723001947/http://www.adlnet.gov/capabilities/next-generation-scorm/tin-can#tab-research|archive-date=23 July 2012|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</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 developed by a community working group and released as version 1.0 in April 2013. There are currently over 160 adopters (19 January 2016).<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>

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Previous versions include: 1.0.2., 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=24 April 2017}}</ref>

1.0.0.<ref>{{cite web|last=Downes|first=Andrew|title=TinCanAPI.co.uk|url=http://www.tincanapi.co.uk|accessdate=28 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422072822/http://tincanapi.co.uk/|archive-date=22 April 2013|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</ref>

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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915112512/http://www.adlnet.gov/resources/Tin_Can_Draft_Specification?type=technical_documentation|archive-date=15 September 2012|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</ref> and version 0.9 (research version specification)

0.95 (second research version specification).