xAPI: The Experience API (or xAPI) is a new specification for learning technology that makes it possible to collect data about the wide range of experiences a person has (online and offline). This API captures data in a consistent format about a person or group’s activities from many technologies. Very different systems are able to securely communicate by capturing and sharing this stream of activities using xAPI’s simple vocabular
Learning Record Store
There are three things that it does as a server site abstraction for xAPI: it provides validation for any of the data that is attempting to go into that store/ it has strict and stringent standards/ it’s not just a Dropbox repository/ if the data doesn’t meet those standards it is rejected. So, LRS:
- provides the means to validate the confidence that one can have of that data into the learning ecosystem/ it is a great open source measure to know we are dealing with valid data
- stores that data in an immutable format/ we are tracking activity over time and that time of activity is stored in immutable chronology/ at any point in time we can go back and recreate that activity
- stores all the data on a machine readable format/ that allows other data consumers to use that data in machine driven ways defined by functions to produce all kinds of automated things (automated audio visualizations etc)
***important notes
- Standardization regards technical standards only not content/ schema
- Blockchain can serve create certifiable record of activity that specifically leads to competencies and credentialsÂ
- activity data can be success data show either that you’ve done something but also that you’ve succeeded in doing something
Privacy and Data Governance
- anyone who types a URL into their browser should be aware on what is happening about data governance/ how we relate to any web based technology
- any technology that’s being used in learning space needs trade-offs about privacy, one should be aware
Data to project trends
xAPI profile that maps against certain business processes / alignment between their business processes and learning processes/ mission control visualizations/
Distribution of LRSs
That is policy question than technology question/xAPI is basically inter operable. Identity management is a bigger issue, however.
Who owns LRS data?
LRSs Identities
- easy: xAPI statement requires a unique identifier for the person who is doing sth/ people us e-mail addresses to do that
- difficult: when the e-mail is a work e-mail.
Experience with a digital footprint is a form of media.Â