Building Blocks: How the Experience API is Similar to Legos

For over a decade, eLearning standards and technologies have been sufficient enough for companies to deliver training via the Learning Management System (LMS). While the LMS continues to be a valuable component of the corporate training ecosystem, new technologies and mediums for learning in the workplace are demanding companies to shift their focus to support a more distributed ecosystem. Companies need more. Old standards and the LMS alone are simply not enough.

Enter the Experience API and the Learning Record Store (LRS). The LRS is a central repository for storing the results of learning-related activities. Results can be aggregated from systems using the Experience API standard, like mobile games, simulations, collaboration tools, training courses, a CRM, or a company intranet. The bits of information that describe the results are called statements and in many ways, they’re like Legos.

Take a look at the two different Lego projects in the image above. The four foot tall Space Needle and five inch hot rod pictured above are built using over 6,800 and 30 pieces, respectively. What’s really impressive is that both projects were created using standard Lego bricks. Let’s use this example to describe three fundamental similarities between the Experience API and Legos:

1. Modularity

Aside from the color differences and a few special pieces, every Lego project is comprised of independent units (single Lego bricks). The bricks are interchangeable and can be removed or added fairly easily without impacting other bricks.

The fundamental unit of communication for the Experience API is a statement ("Kristen completed Sales Training 101"), like a Lego brick. It’s possible for a distributed network of training systems, applications, and learning projects to communicate with an LRS using the same language. You can replace, remove, or add components to the ecosystem and easily integrate them with the same LRS(s).

Given the newfound flexibility of Experience API, the LMS can be a part of your technology infrastructure, not the center of it.

2. Portability

When two different people work on two completely different Lego projects, they share Lego pieces with each other. There’s no need to cut, glue, or alter the pieces in any way. People just pick them up, move them around, and use them on different projects.

Similarly, in an Experience API ecosystem, it’s possible to have multiple LRSs serving different purposes (advanced reporting, compliance) because LRSs can share information with each other in the same format. Furthermore, an LRS can be built into the LMS or stand on its own. Move or sync the entire company’s learning data in a matter of a few hours or days.

Learning-related data and other eLearning assets are no longer locked down in a sealed fortress. It’s about time to say goodbye to costly and complex LMS and data migrations.

3. Extensibility

Legos offer a number of themed product lines, from comics to space exploration and city collections. This lets Lego enthusiasts of all ages and levels of expertise enjoy specialized projects that serve their interests. Robotics fans today are even adding Raspberry Pi microcomputers to Legos.

In Learning & Development, different communities of practice like sales enablement, leadership development, government, and compliance can uniquely describe and track learning experiences. An Experience API statement is a flexible data structure that can contain very specific verbs, extensions, groupings, and other properties that can be tailored for a specific function.

Learning leaders can now describe what people are learning in the context of their own practice and organization, for the improved use and reporting of learning data.

Beyond the affordances described above, there are a number of ways the Experience API and the LRS can benefit your company. You can analyze more than just scores and completions, and freely add additional context and metadata. Furthermore, departments can take control over the granularity of what is being reported.

Most importantly, you can start small and build the simple Lego car to get started, without the heavy lifting of big enterprise LMS systems and applications. You don’t have to build that full sized hot rod all at once.