Tin Can API

Find out how experience API can be used to track learning across devices and beyond courses.

This experimentation was conducted in the course of the regular activities of GTN-Québec, with the technical support of the SOFAD IT team. The purpose of the experimentation is to make recommendations available to the education community on the implementation of this new standard in the online learning field. The following lines briefly present the approach taken for implementation of the xAPI specification within our author environment. We first explain why we decided to design our own plugin (SOFAD/author). We describe the limitations we encountered with SCORM. We show how the implementation of xAPI in our authoring environment allowed us to solve the limitations encountered with SCORM. We identify some possible issues and constraints with this new standard. Finally, we propose some recommendations.

The language used in learning management systems fundamentally changes the way we measure, track, analyze and understand learning in the modern workspace. Between SCORM and the Tin Can API, currently known as the Experience API, we're looking at two similar languages that perform tasks very differently. Think about the way Netflix not only changed the way people watch movies, but how the company keeps track of how we watch movies. Based on the choices we make, the streaming video service can provide suggestions based on our viewing histories, potentially giving us the most relevant entertainment options. Gone are the days when we had to make a trip to the now defunct Blockbuster - or a similar rental location - where we chose what to watch based on availability and a number of outside influences, as well as personal taste. In all of your experiences visiting a video store, when do you remember getting a recommendation from a store clerk that matched your preferences, wants or needs? The Sharable Content Object Reference Model is the foundation for how learning management systems have worked for the past 15 years, but the Tin Can API is the logical progression from this point.

Learning professionals are abuzz with excitement about the Experience API (xAPI). If you’re just getting started with xAPI, this article is a basic primer and provides answers to 5 frequently asked questions. Read on to learn more about what xAPI can (and can’t) do for your organization.

If you've been moving around the eLearning space lately you've probably seen reference to the Tin Can API, usually within the context mobile learning. I didn't really know what it was or why it might be valuable to an organization, so I decided to find out. Here's what I learned. Hopefully this will give some good basic insight into a trend that may become a huge part of eLearning over the next decade.

Learning analytics is one of the holy grails of today’s eLearning industry. It is a part of the Internet mainstream called big-data and Tin Can API or xAPI, as a relativity new technical standard, is introducing this mainstream to online learning. With this article I’ll share some thoughts on how microlearning and Tin Can API might be the key factors of the future learning.

Continuing on in our discussion of the SCORM standard and how communication happens between a SCO and as LMS, in this installment we will be diving a bit into the SCORM data model and discussing how SCORM tracks course data.

After you finish creating your e-Learning course, it’s time to publish it. But with so many eLearning publishing options out there, deciding what’s best for your learners and your online training course can be a little overwhelming.

The Tin Can API is having a massive impact on tools across the eLearning Industry. This is partially because previous standards created barriers, which have lead to stagnation. In the coming years we’re going to see exciting changes in the market, here’s why.

Would you be interested in the 6 current top trends of the E-learning industry? At this post I will explore the hottest e-Learning trends!

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.

Continuing on in our discussion of the SCORM standard and how communication happens between a SCO and as LMS, today we will be talking about the first and last communication calls made by a SCO, LMSInitialize and LMSFinish.  After that we will get into the basics of how course data is passed back and forth using LMSGetValue and LMSSetValue.