Experience API: Difference between revisions

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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|url-status=dead}}</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|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Summary==

The Experience API (Tin Can API) is meant to succeed [[SCORM]], the Sharable Content Object Reference Model, which has been the de facto e-learning standard for packaging e-learning content<ref>{{cite web|last1=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 2015}}</ref>. 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 deploy several new capabilities that were not supported with SCORM, 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.prweb.com/releases/scorm/e-learning/prweb9610860.htm|publisher=SFGate|accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>

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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|url-status=dead}}</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|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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==History==

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|url-status=dead}}</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>