Experience API

The Experience API (xAPI), also known as Tin Can API, is a learning technology specification that captures data about a wide range of learning experiences. Unlike SCORM, which only tracks activities within a single LMS, xAPI can capture learning that happens anywhere: in simulations, on mobile devices, during group activities, through social interactions, or in the real world.

xAPI uses simple "actor-verb-object" statements (like "Student completed Quiz 5") stored in a Learning Record Store (LRS). This lets you aggregate learning data from multiple sources and analyze it together. An institution could track not just LMS activity, but also library usage, lab attendance, simulation performance, and informal learning activities in a single analytics platform.

For institutions thinking about their next-generation learning tech stack, xAPI is a significant step forward. It supports offline learning (important for field-based or rural education), mobile learning, simulation-based training, and competency-based education models. OpenEduCat's learning analytics benefit from xAPI-style data collection, giving institutions deeper insights into how students actually learn.

xAPI was designed to solve SCORM's core limitation: the inability to track learning that happens outside a formal LMS module. With SCORM, tracking only works when a learner interacts with a packaged module inside an LMS. xAPI tracks any learning activity (reading a document, watching a video, attending a training, completing a simulation, passing an assessment) by sending standardized statements to a Learning Record Store.

An xAPI statement follows the structure: Actor-Verb-Object with Result and Context. Examples include "Student X completed Course Y with a score of 85%," "Employee Z attended Safety Training on [date]," or "Learner A answered Question B incorrectly 3 times before getting it right." This granularity enables analytics that SCORM simply can't support, helping you understand not just whether students completed a module, but how they engaged with specific content, where they struggled, and how their engagement patterns relate to assessment performance.

For schools, the typical adoption path starts with new content and gradually extends to legacy content where the analytics value justifies re-authoring. The Learning Record Store becomes a valuable data asset. Plan LRS selection carefully: standalone products (Learning Locker, SCORM Cloud) offer flexibility, while LRS functionality built into the LMS (as in OpenEduCat) simplifies infrastructure but may limit analytics depth.