What Is xAPI? Tracking Learner Data—Wherever It Goes

A new standard in data tracking: xAPI and the learning experience

Before the introduction of xAPI to the e-learning scene, SCORM largely set the standard for capturing learning experience data. But, in 2010, the governing body of SCORM, Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), recognized its shortcomings and challenged industry experts to develop something better.

Enter Rustici Software and Project Tin Can—their solution to bring flexible learner tracking to e-learning systems and beyond. Over the next decade, Tin Can became Experience API—or xAPI for short—and companies seeking comprehensive learner tracking solutions quickly adopted it. Now, organizations are increasingly adopting xAPI as the successor to SCORM, but is it the new standard?

In this post, we’ll explain how xAPI works, its key features and benefits compared to SCORM, explore real-world use cases, and examine future trends and innovations in learner data tracking.

How xAPI works

Experience API is a communication system that collects and shares data from a learner’s experience, both inside and outside a traditional learning management system (LMS). Organizations use xAPI to gain a deeper, more flexible understanding of learner behavior in any environment, both online and offline.

xAPI statements

To put it very simply, xAPI sends statements—or records—of what learners do. Like a bank statement does for monetary transactions, xAPI provides data for learner experiences. Let’s break it down further in the next section.

Actors, verbs, and objects

Each xAPI statement lists three main elements. Known as xAPI syntax, statements are often expressed in a “Actor—Verb—Object” structure. “Actor” represents who did the action, “verb” represents the action, and “object” represents what the action was. Let’s take a look at the table below to solidify a basic understanding:

Actor	Verb	Object
Cynthia	completed	the growth mindset training module
Dave	watched	the Create Custom Blocks in Rise video tutorial
Avery	read	the Storyline: Creating a new Project User Guide

Statements can go beyond the actor—verb—object format to include elements like response, result, context, and timestamp. For example, an xAPI statement—simplified for our purposes—could show how a user answered a quiz question, when they answered it, whether it was correct or incorrect, and how many times they retried the quiz.

The learning record store (LRS)

The learning record store is not your friendly neighborhood vinyl shop. The LRS receives, stores, and distributes xAPI statements. Learning record stores can be standalone systems, but they’re more often embedded within a learning management system (LMS).

Key features of xAPI

Organizations use xAPI to track virtually any learning experience—both in and outside of e-learning courses. What’s more, xAPI tracks activity across devices, across platforms, and even when learners aren’t connected to the internet. These key features—and more—attract organizations that seek a more detailed understanding of learner experiences.

xAPI vs. SCORM

At first glance, xAPI might appear very similar to SCORM, but there are significant differences. Here are the key advantages xAPI holds over SCORM:

• Broader tracking. While SCORM mainly tracks content within an LMS, xAPI records learner data from anywhere—online, offline, in-the-field, at in-person workshops, mobile learning, simulation-based learning and more.
• More flexible data. Where SCORM tracks whether a learner completed, passed, or failed a course and what their score was, xAPI can also tell you how a learner navigated a course—how much of a video did they watch, what they clicked on, and how they moved through a scenario-based module.
• Offline tracking. Unlike SCORM, xAPI can track offline, real-world learner activity like attending a conference session, watching a YouTube video, or logging into a Zoom call.
• Device agility. Inside or outside the LMS browser, xAPI can track it. Mobile learning experiences on phones or tablets—even without being connected to the internet—can be recorded.

A word of support for SCORM: xAPI’s advantages over SCORM don’t push SCORM out of the tracking game. In fact, SCORM is still the most popular e-learning standard for LMS-based content. It’s almost 100 percent guaranteed to work with any LMS, its simplicity lowers overhead costs, and it’s reliable. If your tracking needs don’t go beyond course completion, score, and duration, SCORM is still your best way forward.

4 benefits of using xAPI

1. Tracking beyond the LMS

xAPI doesn’t strictly tie recorded data to what happens within an LMS. And for good reason: learning can happen anywhere, and has always happened everywhere, not just in the office. Organizations use xAPI to track both mobile learning and traditional, in-person learning. When combined, this tells a fuller story of a learner’s journey.

Organizations can track conference session attendance, VR tool activity, and social media activity.  It tracks informal learning like reading a book or contributing to a discussion forum. Gamified elements also become trackable data—a training department can use xAPI to record employee character choices, mission completion times, and the achievements they go for first.

2. Rich analytics and reporting

Companies use xAPI to ask and answer more detailed questions about the learning experience. What choices did they make in the workplace safety scenario-based module? Where did they click on the labeled graphic first, second, and third? When did the learner switch from their laptop to their mobile device? How many times did they retry the customer service skills quiz before they passed it?

L&D departments ask and answer questions like these to provide learners with more customized, relevant learning experiences.

3. Personalized learning experiences

L&D departments use learner data to improve the learning experience. The richer the data, the more accurately they can address individual learner needs, preferences, and performance. Targeted feedback and just-in-time learning becomes simpler, faster to distribute, and more relevant.

Where learners struggle, xAPI data delivers additional resources and support. When learners achieve mastery early, they’ll be presented with options to move ahead faster.  Customized learning pathways like these motivate learners more,  increase their engagement with content, and accelerate their time-to-productivity.

4. Data-driven efficiency and iteration

With xAPI, organizations clearly see what works and what doesn’t. It shows them which courses underperform, what types of interactions are engaging learners the most, and how learners apply their knowledge on the job. Using this data, L&D departments quickly close knowledge and skill gaps, more accurately measure the impact of learning initiatives on business outcomes, and iterate smarter.

Real-world applications of xAPI

The Behr Paint Company

The challenge: Behr’s sales reps spend nearly 95 percent of their time in the field, which made it difficult for them to receive training when they needed it. Most of them rely on their mobile phones to access training through email, so the data and analytics reported on their learning experience remained minimal.

The solution: Behr had an app developed to distribute product knowledge, and embedded xAPI into it to track how reps were accessing content. Based on the data provided, Behr was able to provide the right type of content based on device preference. This improved learner engagement and increased content interaction.

Caterpillar, Inc.

The challenge: Caterpillar, Inc.—a global manufacturer of heavy machinery—realized that their learning content was solely focused on the product, rather than the learner’s needs. CAT’s blended learning approach meant that learner data from in-person learning environments was lost in the equation.

The solution: Caterpillar recognized the need to track all learner data—from both in-person learning environments like technical service training and digital environments. With xAPI, CAT’s L&D team can now track and analyze data to build personalized, high-quality, on-demand training.

Rustici Software

The challenge: Rustici Software—the very team that developed xAPI in the first place—had perhaps the most difficult challenge of them all (sarcasm incoming). They needed a better way to record the results of heated ping pong matches between important meetings. Their original method, a whiteboard leaderboard, wasn’t up to their standards.

The solution: Rustici used their very own product—xAPI—to track their ping pong games. At the end of each match, results are entered into a database. An xAPI statement is generated, reading something like “Jane Doe completed ‘beating John Doe at Rustici PingPong’”.

The future of xAPI

As e-learning tech evolves, learning experiences vary more and more. Whether it’s immersive simulation, social learning, scenario-based learning—and whatever may come next—xAPI is suited to capture it all. As standards for data and analytics change, only a tool that can adapt to any learning environment will do.

Experience API was built to overcome the drawbacks of previous standards. Organizations will continue to use it as a powerful way to track, analyze, and improve the learning experience, wherever it takes them.

A comprehensive tracking approach, built for the future

To drive business results in any learning environment, xAPI offers organizations a comprehensive approach to tracking and analytics. From formal e-learning courses and on-the-job training to informal learning experiences outside the LMS, organizations can collect data to create personalized learning experiences, identify areas for improvement, and measure the impact of training on business outcomes.

Curious to learn more about tracking the learning experience? Check out this post on SCORM for an ultimate guide to the system that set the standard, and a review of all its competitors.