From SCORM to xAPI
The explosion of user data systems in the past few decades kindled the need for standard regulations for sourcing and contextualizing this data. Prior to 2000, organizations employing e-learning systems faced significant challenges when upgrading or changing vendors, often having to scrap their existing content.
To this end, the year 2000 saw the introduction of SCORM, which uncoupled content from its creating apparatus, rendering it applicable to any platform or system. This standard birthed by the ADL Initiative allowed for creation of content that was reusable, robust and platform-independent.
Several iterations of SCORM were launched, with SCORM 2004 Fourth Edition being the most recent. With pervasive internet access and mobile usage, learning has relocated to various informal settings, a landscape where traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) fell short. Thus, a need for a more versatile learning specification was recognized.
In response, the search for a SCORM successor commenced in 2008 and culminated in 2011 in an agreement between the ADL Initiative and Rustici Software. The resultant collaborative project, “Project Tin Can”, led to the formation of a universal e-learning specification, xAPI, with the latest version being 1.0.3. xAPI enabled collection of data on a myriad of experiences in online and offline training activities.
Influenced by the Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture, xAPI rests on the RESTful web-service APIs and leverages the JSON data format and a Learning Record Store (LRS). As of now, version 2.0 is undergoing standardization, with several improvements aimed at refining definitions, standardizing timestamps, and precisely outlining the functions of an LRS.
In a nutshell, xAPI is a versatile solution enabling data collection on a broad range of experiences in diverse learning instances. Vis-à-vis older e-learning norms that can capture only digital experiences, xAPI's shared data format facilitates learning data transfer between different systems while providing the flexibility to focus on uniquely relevant tracking aspects.
Correspondingly, SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is an e-learning standard that records and tracks learner outcomes, presenting course results, responses, viewed pages, viewing duration, time spent on course, and scored learning objectives, in a LMS. SCORM's principal benefit, interoperability, ensures seamless importation of SCORM-compliant content into any LMS that supports this standard.
Sources
Arvaniti, Despoina, 2023, TRACKING LEARNING WITH EXPERIENCE API, https://apothesis.lib.hmu.gr/bitstream/handle/20.500.12688/10503/ArvanitiDespoina2022.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
xAPI website, last consulted on 2023-09-01, https://xapi.com/overview/
xAPI-Spec, ADLNET, github repository, last consulted on 2023-09-01, https://github.com/adlnet/xAPI-Spec