The Vocabulary of xAPI

November 17, 2015 Megan Bowe & Aaron E. Silvers

Matthew McConaughey

“I have my own vocabulary. I love linguistics. That

surprises people.”

What exactly is xAPI?

The Experience API is a standard way of talking about our experiences, using data.

The Experience API (xAPI)• Can track many different types of experiences — including things that

people do on the web, in mobile applications, with wearables, in classrooms and in workplace environments

• Moves beyond a web-based, didactic model

• Promotes better design and technology practices

• Makes integration with other systems and practices easier

• Provides a way to gather and use more useful information.

It answers a lot of ‘How’ type questions…

• How can I inform better business decisions?

• How do I avoid locking us into a solution?

• How can I make investments in learning development last longer and more future-proof?

• How can I make sure what I evaluate today is useful in the future?

• How will I connect a learner’s activities across multiple applications?

How Does Experience API Work?

• People interact with “stuff” (i.e. content, apps, business systems, etc.)

• These interactions are observed and described in JSON.

• The “stuff” sends the statements to a Learning Record Store.

What is a Learning Record Store, or LRS?

• It’s a database that stores activity statements - the “data”

• LRSs can be software (even hardware) that stands on its own.

• LRSs can be a part of data appliances, enterprise applications and learning management system (LMS)

LMS vs. LRSA Learning Record Store (LRS) addresses one capability of a typical

Learning Management System (LMS).

User Management Learning Records Scheduling

Course Management Statistics Grade Book

Tracking eLearning Content Storage Search

Assignments Sequencing Delivery

Preferences Reports Assessment

Someone Did Something

Activity Statements are “Observations”

Actor Verb Object

(To Someone) (Using Stuff) (With Some Result)

{ "actor": { "mbox": "mailto:n3ed8rw7r39@adlnet.gov", "name": "n3ed8rw7r39@adlnet.gov", "objectType": "Agent" }, "verb": { "id": "http://adlnet.gov/expapi/verbs/passed", "display": { "en-US": "passed" } }, "object": { "id": "http://z2.vc/xapi/activities/passed", "objectType": "Activity", "definition": { "name": { "en-US": "HTML5 data attribute prototype" }, "description": { "en-US": "Example generation of a passed activity using an HTML5 data attribute with unobtrusive js" } } }, "id": "d3574611-8092-4616-bfdc-4f48933a0d42" }

What are other terms we might hear?

Adaptive Learning assesses someone’s current knowledge state and recommends a sequence of activity that moves that knowledge state toward a

defined learning outcome.

CMI5 is a profile of xAPI that defines “plug-and-play” interoperability between

learning content activities and LMSs.

A profile is a set of rules that govern how to use xAPI in specific ways for

specific experiences.

Sometimes a profile is called a recipe. When followed, it ensures consistent data to describe similar activities can be generated by different

activity providers.

Interoperability is the expectation that what works in one system will work in a set of other systems by

default with no configuration necessary.

For xAPI, interoperability means that data created in one system can be shared with appropriate

security and used by other systems with complete integrity and authority.

An experience is a set of activities.

An activity provider is some form of content, software application or other media that creates activity statements that can be sent to an LRS.