Leveraging your xAPI data
Good, consistent xAPI data can be used for many things. This means we must really design with the end in mind. If you want to use xAPI data for evaluating the use of interactions within content, this can be added to your content. If you want to use xAPI data to personalize training based on someone’s job role or the objectives they have mastered in the past, this can be added to your content.
Extending the Reach of xAPI with xACTION
The reality is that a modern learning ecosystem and training data in general has many repositories. For just xAPI data, you may have a number of transactional learning record stores that feed into an “authoritative” LRS requiring less “noisy” data. Moreover, this xAPI data may need to be used in other systems that may not even know about xAPI.
Organizations often maintain learning, objective, and competency data in:
- Competency management systems
- Skills databases
- HR systems
- Badging/Credentialing platforms
So, how do we move specific xAPI statements automatically from one LRS to another without forwarding all statements? How do we update our xAPI statements to reflect our governance model? And finally, how do we use xAPI to update enterprise systems that don’t speak xAPI? xACTION is the solution.
xACTION is designed to receive xAPI statements, match them to rules and perform outbound REST calls, forward specific statements, or create new statements based on the patented rule matching engine. Unlike other systems, xACTION can require multiple statement matches to process outbound actions allowing xACTION to bridge the gap between xAPI and other enterprise systems.
So what outbound actions can xACTION take?
Intelligent Statement Forwarding
xAPI can record lots of different data points, some of which may be important to you, and others may not. For example, an instructional designer or content developer may send statements showing every action a student takes within a piece of content – how they navigate, what they click on, if they fast forward video, etc. That may be great data but what if you only need to capture completions or scores and don’t need the extra information in your Authoritative LRS or system of record? xACTION can process statements from multiple LRS or activity providers and only forward the specific statement(s) you want to another LRS.
Statement Transformation
If you have a data model where you have defined how learning and career data is recorded, how can you ensure vendors follow your governance model when they send statements? Often you can’t. An off the shelf content module may not follow your data model. xACTION can receive that xAPI data and transform it into a new statement following your rules and using your vocabulary. xACTION can “Transform” a statement, using pieces of incoming statements. For example, you could use the Verb from the statement that matched Rule 1, and the Object from the statement that matched rule 3. Or you can create an entirely new statement from different statements which are matched to Trigger Rules and then a brand new statement is sent out, giving you control of the xAPI you collect.
3rd Party API Calls
The third function of xACTION is the ability to make 3rd party API calls to update enterprise systems that don’t speak xAPI. Suppose there are 10 courses that must be completed to get a digital Learning badge. Over time, as a student completes the courses a statement is sent to an LRS indicating that each course has been completed. Once all 10 statements are received and meet the rules, xACTION could call a REST API that awards the student a badge.
The list of use cases for updating systems by calling their APIs can go on and on.
- Update a customer’s record in a CRM like SalesForce when they complete a series of activities.
- Give training history to a student in an LMS or Enterprise Learner Record when they interact with a simulation outside the LMS.
- Add or remove an employee’s capabilities in a Competency Assertion System when they complete a series of training, assessment, and on-the-job activities.
- Grant access to a facility’s Access Control System when a person completes orientation and required safety training.
I’ve even used an xAPI statement to turn on the coffee maker via 3rd party API. Essentially, xACTION turns your raw xAPI data into operational learning data functionally integrated across enterprise systems in a code-free way without custom middleware development. Click here to learn more about xACTION and it’s support of the Total Learning Architecture.
More questions? Contact RISC today!
Mr. Welder’s career is founded in traditional instructional design and computer-based training development. He is a certified Development Dimensions International facilitator, a Kirkpatrick Certified Evaluator and facilitator of the Ohio State University curriculum development program. In addition to working in industry, Mr. Welder has held adjunct faculty positions at Bowling Green State University, Ohio and the College of the Mainland, Texas. Mr. Welder has been published in both Training Magazine as well as US Business Review.