What is xAPI and is it contagious?
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This session delivered at Learning DevCamp 2015, Salt Lake City, UT by Megan Torrance. This session has two parts (and way too much interesting content for an hour! :-) ) First, Megan reviews what xAPI is and a roadmap for moving from a SCORM-based environment to an xAPI-centric environment. Then she shares a dozen or so models for taking advantage of xAPI as a first pilot project.
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What is xAPI and is it contagious?
- 1. What is xAPI? (and is it contagious?) Learning DevCamp 2015 | Session S114 Megan Torrance © TorranceLearning Dollarphotoclub_67430491
- 2. PART 1: Your new job!
- 3. q Tour q Explore benefit package q Meet actual people q Attend webinar q Attend a class q Rate your experience q Complete online course q Observe q Receivecoaching q Watch a video q Follow a blog q Read a book Elearning: Welcome Elearning: Log into LMS Elearning: Plant tour Class: Yourbenefits & you Class: Using yourEmail Elearning: Who’s who Elearning:Ourcustomers Class: Finance 101 Recordedwebinar Webinar Multiple choice test q Participate q Job shadow Class: Using the intranet Company BCompany A q q q q q q q q q q q q
- 4. What if you could have the best of both worlds? • Consistent when it needs to be • Personalized when it needs to be • Trackable & reportable • Flexible • Not confined by the LMS • Mobile, offline, online, collaborative, social, individualized
- 5. These things don’t fit neatly into the box. We need an un-box.
- 6. PART 2: What is xAPI?
- 8. What is SCORM? • Time • Score • Location • Status • Answers
- 9. Learning is everywhere but how do you track it?
- 10. So what is xAPI? Answer #1 Next-generation SCORM Answer #2 A way of recording any learning experience to give a more rich picture of the development path. Answer #3 A protocol and language for sending and retrieving data about learning experiences: activity statements
- 11. Claire read Business Writing for Professionals John practiced frosting birthday cakes Lindsey watched the Company History video Luke completed Oil Change Upselling Actor verb object Actor verb object context
- 12. Anne wrote a blog post about local theatre that got 45 views and 3 comments Lindsey rated A2ATD event xAPI Technology Competency @LearnShare @MMTorrance 4 stars “coffee rocked, room was cold” Claire read Business Writing for Professionals John practiced frosting birthday cakes Josh watched the Company History video Luke completed Oil Change Upselling Cynthia completed Oil Change Upselling score 60% Tonya simulated landing at DTW Molly simulated landing at DTW in SimSuite #4 and was rated 98% by Instructor
- 17. And what can you do with it? • Personal learning streams • Social learning streams • Smart checklists • Video tracking • Observational checklists • Mentoring experience tracking • Classroom participation • Social engagement tracking • Extra-LMS learning experiences • Just about anything you want (the rainbows and unicorns part)
- 18. PART 3: Making it work
- 19. Making it work • We want beautiful analysis • We want data justifying the training we’re delivering. • We want data to optimize the training itself.
- 20. What is xAPI? Answer #1 Next-generation SCORM Answer #2 A protocol for recording any learning experience to give a more rich picture of the development path. Answer #3 A protocol and language for sending and retrieving data about learning experiences: activity statements Answer #4 Independence from “silo-ed” LMS, allowing you to connect multiple learning and business platforms Answer #5 “the holy grail” where we can correlate job performance data with training data to assess people and training effectiveness
- 21. AWESOME.. But.. • The LRS is what stores all this wonderful data from xAPI. • Why don’t we just store the data in the LMS?
- 22. SCORM is “structured” SCORM has “buckets” for everything it needs to store.. like an Excel spreadsheet. So where do you put “experience” data? It doesn’t fit the mold! Learner Course Time Score Status Houck, R Compliance 101 28 M 85 Pass Simpson, H Compliance 101 35 M 90 Pass Torrance, M Compliance 101 26 M 70 Fail
- 24. xAPI is “unstructured” • Unlike SCORM, the system doesn’t need to understand what data is being stored ahead of time. • This allows storage of information that was previously impossible (or really, really hard) to collect.
- 25. The “Official” Roadmap SCORM SCORM + xAPI (LMS Centric) SCORM + xAPI (LRS Centric) xAPI + TLA
- 26. The “Real” Roadmap SCORM SCORM + xAPI (LMS Centric) SCORM + xAPI (LRS Centric) xAPI + TLA
- 27. Magic Do you need xAPI today? • If you’re just publishing typical e- learning modules, the answer is “probably not”. Will you want xAPI in the future? • Probably! • As course vendors start to leverage the real power of the tools, you don’t want to be on the outside.
- 28. Dipping your toe in the water. You may identify e-learning that xAPI could really add value – by doing something SCORM can’t. 1. Get a free or cheap LRS account. 2. Learn. Do you get the data you want? Does xAPI solve the problem? 3. Lather, rinse, repeat
- 29. There Be Dragons Here If your current LMS offers an LRS … • What does the integration look like? • Will users see a difference? • What does reporting look like? • What’s it cost? • What does a pilot look like?
- 30. PART 4: Where can you start to experiment? Dollarphotoclub_67430491
- 31. What can you do now with xAPI that you couldn’t with SCORM? • Learn more about the learning experience • Learn more about the performance • Correlate learning with performance • Correlate learning with results • Correlate performance with results • Offer more targeted training • Support performance in better ways • Learn from others • Share learning with others • Compare performance and learning across learners • Deliver and track training outside of the LMS
- 32. The experience is … Social • Activity is (can be) shared with and followed by others • Activity is consumed horizontally across the organization • Encourages learning from others (high performers) Personal • Activity is (relatively) private • Activity is primarily consumed by the learner and vertically with leaders S P
- 33. The transactions are… Predictable • We know the triggers and when to expect them • We know the possible range of statements Variable • Triggers are “random” or at least not prescribed • Verbs and direct objects are unknown until used P V
- 34. The context is … Learning • Transactions document the learning process and/or performance simulations • Source of transactions has (often) been created by the L&D team Performance • Transactions document actual performance • Source of transactions has been created by (or in) another source and sent to or imported by the learning system L P
- 35. The initiator is … The learner • The learner chooses when to document the experience. An observer • An observer chooses when to document the experience. The environment • The experience is documented behind the scenes. • The learner may not be overtly aware of it. L O E
- 36. The evaluation is … Formative • What do you know? What don’t you know? • Data is used to determine learning gaps (and ultimately fill them). Summative • What have you learned? What can you do with it? • Data used to certify that learning has happened. F S
- 37. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… Traditional SCORM Elearning • Learners access elearning in a learning management system (LMS). • Important metrics include completion, score, status, location. E L P P ersonal redicable earning nvironment S ummative
- 38. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… SCORM on steroids • Track all the things. • You need to track more, and more easily, than could ever be done with SCORM. • This formal learning environment is still a private experience. • You need to track multiple people doing the same thing together. L L P P S ersonal redicable earning earner ummative
- 39. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The Fitbit® of learning • Track performance as it happens. • As the learner is doing the work, activity statements keep track of what’s happening. • It doesn’t actually track learning, it tracks doing. • It’s real time. • Typically this underpins work that is performed in a system or in something that’s tracked already. E P P P erformance nvironment F ormative ersonal redicable
- 40. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The ultimate scoreboard • Track performance that happened. • Data that reflects actual results is fed from a business system to the learning system. • It doesn’t actually track learning, it tracks doing or the results of doing. • It can be done at any time, including historically. • Typically this underpins work that is performed in a system or in something that’s tracked already. E P P P S ersonal redicable erformance nvironment ummative
- 41. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The marauder’s map • Leave a trail for later • As the learner progresses through a large body of knowledge, annotated bookmarks mark a path for later. • Others can see or follow the path. • Comments can be analyzed for meaning. • High performers can be followed. • Creates a personalized & transferrable performance support. • L&D can see who uses what, what needs to be changed. L L V S ? ocial ariable earning earner
- 42. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The hypomnema • Personal learning diary • Learner bookmarks web pages and experiences to create a personal diary. • Others can see or follow the path. High performers can be followed. • Tag and comment on pages. • Creates a personalized & transferrable library. L L V S earning earner ? ocial ariable
- 43. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The learning to do list • Personal learning checklist • The learner has a checklist of things to accomplish as part of a curriculum. • SCORM and non-SCORM items can be on the checklist. • Two-way communication with the LRS means the learner can initiate some checks, and others can be gathered “hands-free.” L L P P F ersonal redicable earning earner ormative
- 44. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The shadow • An on-the-job learning checklist • The learner has a checklist of things to observe in OJT training or job shadowing. • Subjectivity and variation are removed from shadowing. • The learner has more clarity around what should be accomplished and can be more active. • “Shadowees” can be evaluated systematically. • Checklist tracks what has historically not been trackable. L L P P F ersonal redicable earning earner ormative
- 45. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The report card • An observed behavior checklist • An observer has a list of things to note about the learner’s performance. • Checklist tracks what has historically not been trackable in any scalable way. O P P P erformance bserver S ummative ersonal redictable
- 46. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The mentor’s mentor • Track the mentoring relationship from both sides. • Both mentor and protégé document activities in the mentoring relationship. • Enter goals and activities. L,O L V P earning Two-sided! F ormative ersonal ariable
- 47. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The teacher’s pet • Track more about instructor-led training. • Offer tests and evaluations in the classroom. • Track participation and results in activities & simulations. • Use tools to track attendance and “completion” back to the LMS. O L P P S ersonal redicable earning bserver ummative
- 48. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The project tool • Track activities and results of project- based learning • Project parameters, learning objectives and performance criteria are laid out for an action learning project. • Learner(s) can also document experiences variably. • Data about the project is entered and scored by the learner(s) and/or learning coaches. • Can be integrated with social platforms, checklists and bookmarking tools. L L V P earning earner F ormative ersonal ariable
- 49. Experienceis…Transactionsare..Contextis…Initiatoris…Evaluationis… The project tool • Track activities and results of project- based learning • Project parameters, learning objectives and performance criteria are laid out for an action learning project. • Learner(s) can also document experiences variably. • Data about the project is entered and scored by the learner(s) and/or learning coaches. • Can be integrated with social platforms, checklists and bookmarking tools. L L V P earning earner F ormative ersonal ariable
- 50. How can you use it? DollarPhotoClub_80510835
Editor's Notes
- Welcome to your new job. You’ve been hired into Company A or Company B. Which new hire onboarding would you rather have? Company A’s approach works when you’ve got a large number of people you care about tracking. It doesn’t work so well if you want them to do too much in their first 2 weeks on the job – they’re just sitting and “being trained” … they’re not doing. If you can just pour knowledge into heads, this works. And you can track completion rates, scores, participation, time spent in training – you know these raw stats at any point in time. That’s the beauty of your LMS. Company A’s approach assumes that everything you need to learn can be done inside the LMS, or at least in a classroom where the instructor records your participation in the LMS. Company B’s approach is a much more action-focused, experienced based way to learn. This is way more interesting, and way more effective. It works when you’re small – you don’t have a lot of people, you don’t care about tracking really carefully … because typically you can’t track this much stuff, this much variety, at scale … not without a lot of brute force programming. And that doesn’t give you much flexibility. So which one is better?
- SCORM is just fine if everything you need to learn and track can be housed in your LMS. And you only learn when you’re connected to the internet and logged into the LMS.
- I like to think of it as a grammar
- Following two slides are rehash of pretty graphs and stuff that makes us go “ooooh” and “ahhhh”…
- Let’s go back to the ‘book”.. This is pulled from the xAPI documentation almost verbatim.. this is the “promise” of XAPI. #1 / #2 – Megan talked about.. Reference back. #3 – builds off this – reinforce that learning experiences in the future won’t come entirely from e-learning. Give examples (RFID, Ab Scex KPI’s, other “triggers” that happen in the real world.. Call center logs, manufacturing floor, blah blah) #4 – caveat this! The marketing message for xapi is different from the reality. The reality is your LMS isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.. Nor does it need to! LRS are not as mature today as LMS.. Predict the eventual merger that we’ll just call an LMS anyway.. #5 – this is the land of unicorns.. We’ve been promised this for years.. It ain’t easy.
- All that is good right? But the “gotcha”. If this were SCORM 5, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.. It’s not.. It’s entirely new.
- Lets go back to that structured/unstructured concept that Megan talked about.. Databases like to be neat and tidy.. A place for everything and everything has a place. But we really can’t create a place for *anything*..
- [remember the where’s the beef meme fades in on click] Remember the really awesome interaction? This could be a little challenge for SCORM.. The biggest one is .. There’s NO COURSE.. So you can see how SCORM can break down quickly!
- So xAPI is “unstructured” but not “illogical”… We don’t NEED a course loaded in the system to understand data.. We don’t need to know ahead of time you’re going to send something. This is an incredibly freeing concept – and one that throws a lot more onerous on ISD’s (I think that’s the right term?) to think about their data. We haven’t really had to do that before!
- This is the official roadmap suggested by the xAPI authors. It looks good.. One progresses from “SCORM” to slowly moving into an environment with LMS, then more LRS, and then finally to the “promised land” of xAPI/TLA. So let’s break this down in to more practical terms – in my mind, there’s really several paths you can take.
- For those of us with an LMS, the road ahead is not as easy.
- Well, there’s really no such thing. Its “slight of hand” Let’s start down the path. You know how to publish SCORM, we need to build confidence in the technologies, processes, etc. and this can take time.
- Experiments (or prototypes) – small projects that can be used to prove out a concept. Successful prototypes will help build a business case for bringing on this functionality. This also helps you decide if a particular project “fits’ into SCORM or “XPI”.. Using outside LRS systems allows you to “segment” the risk.. But know that you won’t have integrated reporting. This shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for prototypes.. (note “NOT PILOT”)
- These are your dragons! Integration – watch out for integrations that are periodic feeds. This is seldom a good answer. Obviously, users shouldn’t see difference running an XAPI driven course.. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. Your LMS managers and administrators may have differences in how courses are loaded, tested and maintained. The LRS should be “heard” and not “seen”. Reporting – integrated reporting should be high on your wish list.. You don’t want to get into two reporting tools. That’s never fun. Get specific with your questions “can I pull a summary by department of anybody that did a particular activity and how they rated it?” Cost – this shouldn’t blow out your budget.. But get pricing ahead of time. “Upgrading” the LMS to “get” xAPI may or may not be worth it.. That will be dependent on the business case. Pilot – if you’ve built prototypes, you can test them in a pilot.. Validate things work the way you want.. Expand audiences gradually until you have the need to go enterprise wide.
- RFED, Stroke READY, Riptide Onboard Sales
- Altair
- John Crane
- what we pitched to BadBoy re: FAR regulations, ePub-It
- TES, hypomnema, Johns Hopkins
- Finbert the Gnome
- Forklift maintenance
- Trains