Discover Simple Communication with Tin Can API

Discover Simple Communication with Tin Can API
Summary: Remember the tin can telephone from your childhood? Two cans and a string were a simple but exciting way to communicate with your friends—the Tin Can API is meant to be the same way. It’s two-way conversation that allows e-Learning systems to speak to each other, while tracking and recording learning experiences.

Learning can happen anywhere, at anytime, in many forms. The Tin Can API records all these learning activities in a Learning Record Store (LRS). An LRS can exist on its own or inside a Learning Management System such as CourseMill LMS. When a learning activity needs to be recorded, the Tin Can API sends secure statements in the form of “Noun, verb, object” or “I did this” to an LRS. The LRS then records these statements and can share them with other LRSs. This simple structure of statements lets you record almost any type of learning activity.So, what does this mean? The Tin Can API collects the experiences that matter. That way, you have the ability to see the entire learning experience including learner interactions with mobile learning, simulations, virtual worlds, serious games, real-world activities, experiential learning, social learning, offline learning and collaborative learning.

Let’s take a look at what you can do with the Tin Can API:

  1. Next Generation of SCORM
    The Tin Can API is the next generation of SCORM. Not only is Tin Can great for tracking mobile learning, simulations, informal learning and serious games, but it also allows you to track learning experiences anywhere, on any device or server—even if you’re offline.  You can now do things that weren’t possible in SCORM, like launch e-Learning content outside an LMS, maintain control over content delivery and user experience, navigate your learner across different content and even prevent cheating. With Tin Can, you’ll deliver a richer instructional experience that includes interactive and adaptive learning. Plus, it allows you to report data like team-based training and multiple scores that was very difficult to do in SCORM.
  2. Track any learning experience, anywhere
    Learning happens everywhere. Tin Can allows you to track and record it in a way that many systems can understand. This lets you form a complete picture of someone’s learning experience, whether that’s asking a question on social media, being mentored by an expert, going to class or writing a blog post.
  3. Make your data accessible
    The Tin Can API allows for writing data to and reading data from an LRS. This means content analytics tools can extract real usage data from an LRS and provide the information you need as an e-Learning developer to improve your course’s effectiveness. Statements can be reported to more than one LRS, which allows the learner to also own his or her data and store their experience in a “personal data locker.”
  4. Evaluate your training program’s effectiveness
    The Tin Can API is based on a specification called Activity Streams, which is a format for capturing activity on social networks. An example of Activity Streams is the news feed on Facebook. With these Activity Streams in Tin Can, you can converge the actual job performance data and the training data. This allows you to identify the training paths that lead to successful or problematic outcomes, so you can find out what works and what doesn’t work in your e-Learning course and measure ROI.

One eLearning authoring tool that fully supports the Tin Can API is Lectora® Version 11. Lectora e-Learning software publishes seamlessly to Tin Can, creating a hassle-free way to track and record your learners’ activities.

The Tin Can API provides new opportunities for you to gain insight into your learners’ experiences. With this information, you can enhance your own learning and training based on what is successful and what is not. And just like the tin can telephone from your childhood, Tin Can API makes e-Learning communication simple.