Learning Record Store

Last updated

A Learning Record Store (LRS) [1] is a data store system that serves as a repository for learning records collected from connected systems where learning activities are conducted. It is an essential component in the process flow for using the Experience API (xAPI) [2] standard by ADL or the Caliper standard by IMS Global. The Experience API is also known as the "Tin Can API" [2] and is an Open Source e-learning specification developed after AICC and SCORM. The concept of the LRS was introduced to the e-learning industry in 2011, and proposes a shift to the way e-learning specifications function.

Contents

History

SCORM has been the e-learning industry software specification for interoperability from 2001 until the present. The governing body of SCORM, Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), realized that the specification was not keeping up with advancements in technology, and that it needed to be updated. [2] ADL issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) asking for assistance with updating the SCORM specification. [3] The BAA was awarded to Rustici Software, and the result was a one-year research and development project called Project Tin Can. [4] The final result of Project Tin Can was the Experience API along with the concept of the LRS. [4]

Overview

xAPI-enabled learning activities generate statements, or records of e-learning in the form of "I did this" or "Actor verb object". [5] These statements are transmitted over HTTP or HTTPS to an LRS. The main function of an LRS is to store and retrieve the data that's generated from Experience API statements. [6]

An LRS can exist inside a traditional learning management system (LMS), or on its own. [2] LRSs can communicate learner data with other systems, such as LMSs, sensor-enabled devices, mobile technology, and other LRSs. [7] Systems sending data to an LRS are known as "Activity Providers". Individual learners can have their own LRSs, or Personal Data Lockers, in which they store all of their learning data for their own personal records.

xAPI statements are capable of being sent to multiple LRSs at once. With traditional LMSs, a learner's data stays with the organization that administers the LMS. When the LRS is introduced, the sharing of learning data is possible, and the learning data can follow the learner wherever the learner goes (for example, from job to job or from school to school). [8]

LRSs offer the ability to create very in-depth e-learning analytics because of the large amounts of learning data they record and store. Traditional e-learning specifications like SCORM are limited to storing simple data points such as a final score, or that a course has been started or completed. With the statement structure that the LRS records, there are many data points that can be reported against. Reports can be pulled on any number of combinations of "actor", "verb" and "object". [9] However, an LRS that is built strictly to the Experience API specification doesn't have a built-in reporting mechanism. The LRS administrator (or the administrator of the LMS in which the LRS exists) must provide means to access the data in the LRS, and in turn create a reporting system for the data.

Related Research Articles

Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based electronic educational technology. It defines communications between client side content and a host system, which is commonly supported by a learning management system. SCORM also defines how content may be packaged into a transferable ZIP file called "Package Interchange Format."

Moodle is a free and open-source learning management system written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Moodle is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other online learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors.

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials or learning and development programs. The learning management system concept emerged directly from e-Learning. Learning management systems make up the largest segment of the learning system market. The first introduction of the LMS was in the late 1990s. Learning management systems have faced a massive growth in usage due to the emphasis on remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee</span>

The Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC) was an international association of technology-based training professionals that existed from 1988 to 2014. The AICC developed guidelines for aviation industry in the development, delivery, and evaluation of CBT, WBT, and related training technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Learning object metadata</span> Data model

Learning Object Metadata is a data model, usually encoded in XML, used to describe a learning object and similar digital resources used to support learning. The purpose of learning object metadata is to support the reusability of learning objects, to aid discoverability, and to facilitate their interoperability, usually in the context of online learning management systems (LMS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Captivate</span>

Adobe Captivate is an authoring tool that is used for creating eLearning content such as software demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, and randomized quizzes in HTML5 format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATutor</span> Open source web-based application

ATutor is an open source web-based learning management system (LMS).

The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative is a US government program that conducts research and development on distributed learning and coordinates related efforts broadly across public and private organizations. ADL reports to the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), under the Director, DHRA. Although it is a DoD program, ADL serves the entire US federal government, operates a global partnership network including international defense ministries and US-based academic partners, and collaborates closely with industry and academia. ADL advises the DoD and US government on emerging learning technologies, best practices for improving learning effectiveness and efficiency, and methods for enhancing interoperability. Notable ADL contributions to distributed learning include the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), Experience API (xAPI), and the DoD Instruction 1322.26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screencorder</span>

ScreenCorder is a desktop recording tool for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, developed and distributed by MatchWare. The program allows the user to record everything that happens on their desktop as viewed on their monitor, edit the recording and then export it to a redistributable video format. Uses include the creation of training videos, product support videos, sales presentations, and demonstration videos. Recorded content can be enhanced with audio instructions, graphic speech bubbles, magnifications, animations, and multimedia content.

The International Federation for Learning, Education, and Training Systems Interoperability (LETSI) is an international nonprofit organization focused on enabling technical interoperability for computer-based learning, education, and training systems. Comprising e-learning vendors, adopters, standards bodies, associations, and policy makers, LETSI's primary activity is to support the adoption of open software standards in learning systems. The LETSI community formed around an international planning effort for the next generation of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), which was originally created by the U.S. Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative. LETSI was founded in March, 2008 to serve the international SCORM community.

eFront (eLearning software) ELearning software

eFront is an eLearning platform (also known as a Course Management System, or Learning Management Systems, or Virtual Learning Environment ). eFront has historically been coming in a number of editions, from an open-source edition to the latest eFrontPro edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamilo</span>

Chamilo is a free software e-learning and content management system, aimed at improving access to education and knowledge globally. It is backed up by the Chamilo Association, which has goals including the promotion of the software, the maintenance of a clear communication channel and the building of a network of services providers and software contributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ActivePresenter</span>

ActivePresenter is 3-in-1 eLearning authoring, screencasting, and video editing software for Microsoft Windows and macOS, which is developed by Atomi Systems, Inc. With this app, users can:

iSpring Suite is a PowerPoint-based authoring toolkit produced by iSpring Solutions that allows users to create slide-based courses, quizzes, dialog simulations, screencasts, video lectures, and other interactive learning materials. The output courses are published in HTML5. iSpring-made courses are compatible with the following LMS standards:SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, AICC, xAPI, and cmi5.

EthosCE is a learning management system for the administration of continuing medical education in nursing, pharmacy and other healthcare-related programs. Developed by DLC Solutions, it provides interfaces for organizations to produce and manage continuing education websites. Distribution is provided as a software-as-a-service web application.

The Experience API (xAPI) is an e-learning software specification that records and tracks various types of learning experiences for learning systems. Learning experiences are recorded in a Learning Record Store (LRS), which can exist within traditional learning management systems (LMSs) or on their own.

Inquisiq R3 is a web-based SCORM compliant Learning Management System (LMS) that is owned by ICS Learning Group Inc. Inquisiq R3 is used for delivering and tracking both e-learning courseware and traditional training. The product is available as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model or as an unlimited user on-premises model hosted by the customer or the vendor.

Unizin is both a consortium of higher education institutions and a service provider. The Unizin consortium was founded in 2014 by Colorado State University, University of Florida, Indiana University, and University of Michigan. On July 22, 2014, Unizin named Amin Qazi its founding CEO. The Unizin service debuted its first offering, Canvas by Instructure, in late summer 2014. The goal of the Unizin service is to standardize digital learning by creating common standards that enable collaboration within the higher education community. The Unizin consortium offers a channel for collaborating on solutions to the many challenges being faced by educational institutions, as well as a means for those institutions to collectively govern resources and cost-effectively control infrastructure necessary to enable innovation at their universities. Unizin, Ltd. is a registered 501(c)(3).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online learning in higher education</span> Development in distance education that began in the mid-1980s

Online learning involves courses offered by primary institutions that are 100% virtual. Online learning, or virtual classes offered over the internet, is contrasted with traditional courses taken in a brick-and-mortar school building. It is a development in distance education that expanded in the 1990s with the spread of the commercial Internet and the World Wide Web. The learner experience is typically asynchronous but may also incorporate synchronous elements. The vast majority of institutions utilize a learning management system for the administration of online courses. As theories of distance education evolve, digital technologies to support learning and pedagogy continue to transform as well.

Growth Engineering is a SAAS learning technologies company. They provide a platform for e-Learning, also known as a learning management system. Established in 2004, Growth Engineering offers a learning portal for companies and their employees, partners and customers. Growth Engineering is compatible with SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 and xAPI. In a Technavio report, Growth Engineering were recognised as a vendor in the game-based learning market.

References

  1. "Learning Record Store". Next Software Solutions. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brusino, Justin. "THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCORM: A Q&A WITH AARON SILVERS". American Society for Training and Development. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  3. Tillett, Jeff. "Project Tin Can – The Next Generation of SCORM" . Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Next Generation SCORM - Research Summary". Advanced Distributed Learning. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  5. Tillett, Jeff. "Project Tin Can – The Next Generation of SCORM". Float Mobile Learning. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  6. Brandon, Bill. "Making History: mLearnCon 2012 Rocks Attendees". Learning Solutions Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  7. "What is a Learning Record Store?". Rustici Software. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  8. Tillett, Jeff. "Project Tin Can – The Next Generation of SCORM". Float Mobile Learning. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  9. Wentworth, David (12 July 2012). "Learning on the Small Screen". The Brandon Hall Group.