standards


Good news


While the vendor vision is bright, buyers still need convincing that this generation of learning technology can really drive employee and business performance


Fiona Leteney I


n my last e.learning age article I pondered if CIM5 from the Aviation Industry Computer- Based Training Committee (AICC) might be what we needed to kick-start the industry’s use of the new learning interoperability standard xAPI (also known as Tin Can API). I asked everyone to watch this space. However, the best space to have been watching for a potential kick-start was the news section of the same edition of the magazine! It had the announcement that Rustici Software had been acquired by the UK’s very own Learning Technologies Group (LTG). Rustici being the company that was commissioned by Advanced Distributed Learning to research and then specific what was to come after SCORM thus launching the Tin Can project. Well, I can honestly say didn’t see that one


coming! However, I’m so pleased that Tim Martin CEO of Rustici Software will be able to justify regular trips to the UK to watch the soccer games he loves so much. I’ve already invited him up to Manchester where the best football is played of course. There is now the slightly bizarre situation that Mike Rustici no longer works for Rustici Software; he is however the president of the newly formed company Watershed Systems, Inc. This company now has ownership of Learning Record Store (LRS) product, WatershedLRS, which was originally created by Rustici. LTG is also partnering with and has invested in this company. Any ‘cause’ or activity can benefit hugely from an injection of cash but this also provides a boost of confidence in the xAPI. A concern might be that the investment has come from within the industry so is it ‘backing its own horse’? Is the perceived confidence real or just self-generated? That said, there are other LRS springing up all


Eventually the software could provide analytics to the business which would demonstrate the return on investment of training by demonstrating the improving performance of their people.


the time, for example Yet Analytics has also received some investment recently. So it seems the vendors and investors are spotting the opportunities in the xAPI future. LTG sees itself in the vanguard, leading the way in the future of learning standards. I would tend to agree that there is definitely a powerful synergy in this group of companies which includes gomo learning which creates multi-device authoring software. Hopefully this will be seen as a challenge for the rest of the industry vendors, spurring them on so they will step up to the plate.


Transition


Easing the transition into this future, there are currently a few initiatives:


1. The next version of the xAPI specification (1.0.3) is due any time soon. It’s a patch release so no functional changes but there are some significant changes to the spec document. Implementers will find it easier to understand and faster to get started.


2. The xAPI Camp which could also be known as the Aaron Silvers and Megan Bowe road show is coming to the UK in April 2016. See here for details: http://connectionsforum.com/jisc- london-422/


There is certainly potential for improvement in


this sector, as illustrated in the Fosway 9-Grid on authoring tools. For the second year running the strategic leader box is empty which is disappointing. Despite that, it is interesting to note that between


January 2015 and January 2016 gomo moved from Potential challenger into the middle Core Challenger box. Its position in the top right corner of the core challenger box suggests it could be poised for another move.


I wonder if the combination of xAPI authoring with an LRS provides the strategic direction we need for the future of learning. The vendor vision is a bright one but we still a need to convince the buyers. They need to be convinced and guided to take the first step out of the compliance box which has been serviced by SCORM for all these years.


Can a gomo or similar type solution be the way? The cost of ownership will need to stay low-to- medium and not be a barrier for buyers to experiment with an online authoring tool already hooked up to an LRS with analytics. They do not need to see the mechanics just the results. If this works for them hopefully they will be inspired to move away from the tick box compliance e-learning. Eventually the software could provide analytics to the business which would demonstrate the return on investment of training by demonstrating the improving performance of their people.


I’m also hearing of some new case studies that involve Education and the NHS. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring more detail on these in the coming months.


So it seems the vendors and investors are spotting the opportunities in the xAPI future.


e.learning age april 2016


Fiona Leteney is an e-learning implementation consultant @fionaleteney


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38