By now, many eLearning professionals have at least heard the buzzwords: Experience API, xAPI, and Tin Can. And many more have implemented the Experience API as a way to capture the formal and informal learning that is taking place in their organizations.

For those who haven’t started yet, or who have questions, I’ve pulled out five resources from The eLearning Guild’s archives, and identified five sessions at the DevLearn 2015 Conference & Expo, where there are plenty of answers and guidance to get started. There are also articles in the Learning Solutions Magazine archive as well; to find them, just enter “xAPI” (without the quotation marks) in the search box at the top of this page.

From the archives

Research Library: The Experience API—Liberating Learning Design. Peter Berking, Steve Foreman, Jason Haag, Craig Wiggins. Research report. (Paid membership required for access.)

Online Events Archive: Learning Platform Strategies: LMS, LRS, or Both? Robert Gadd, Craig Wiggins. Handout and recording (1:16). (Paid membership required for access.)

Conference Archive: The ABC’s of xAPI: Lessons Learned and Shared. Robert Gadd, Dave Smelser. Handout, video (59:18).

Online Events Archive: LRSs: What You Need to Know Now. Rob Houck, Megan Torrance. Handout, recording (1:14:53). (Paid membership required for access.)

Conference Archive: Break Out of the Web Browser Box with the Experience API. David Smith. Handout.

Sessions at DevLearn 2015

xAPI Camp. Case studies, ideas, solutions, and community. Aaron Silvers, Megan Bowe. Pre-conference workshop, September 29. (Separate registration required.)

The ABCs of xAPI: Lessons Learned and Shared. Dave Smelser, Robert Gadd. In this session, you will learn what xAPI is and what it isn’t. You will learn how statements are generally structured, and how it is typically being put into practice. You will explore how xAPI is being leveraged by progressive organizations to improve the learning experience, streamline tracking, perform common tasks, and drive engagement. Finally, we will look at the myriad challenges. Just because it’s out there doesn’t mean your team will have the right platforms, tools, practices, and mind-set to take advantage of all the features (attributes) and benefits xAPI has to offer.

Improving Patient Safety Using xAPI and LRS. Ali Shahrazad. In this session, you will learn about the resources, logistical issues, and planning that were required to implement the Experience API (xAPI) and a learning record store (LRS) in an effort to reach specific desired outcomes at uOttawa. You will learn how uOttawa leveraged an LRS to capture the data from a content management system (CMS) with a combination of HTML and rapid authored content and then designed advanced reporting functions not found in other tools on the market. Additionally, you will review the future expansion plans and vision that the uOttawa Faculty of Medicine has for the xAPI in medical education.

Analytics and xAPI: Measure Your Way to Success. Andy Johnson, Craig Wiggins, Steve Foreman. In this session, you will learn how the Experience API (xAPI) is allowing us to look deeper at what is happening and how that data can influence future design and learning environment decisions. You will explore a detailed use case involving the analysis and resolution of a productivity challenge in a large sales and marketing organization. The use case will include descriptions and explanations of how learning analytics and the xAPI can be applied, including needs analysis, solution design, data collection, data visualization, solution monitoring, and building on success. You will learn how analytics can be used to address workplace performance challenges and how to leverage the xAPI.

Becoming a Learning Experience Designer. Marty Rosenheck In this session you will learn the importance of building experiences in the form of online scenarios, simulations, and real-world on-the-job tasks. You’ll leave understanding better how to apply research-based guidelines to design, structure, and sequence experiences into optimized learning paths. You’ll see to how to leverage technology, especially mobile and the Experience API (formerly Tin Can) to deliver, capture, and track learning experiences. Finally, in this session you’ll see examples of how learning-experience designers are transforming how people learn professional, technical, sales, and leadership skills.