Top 5 benefits of the Experience API

I believe the Experience API is having a profound impact on the way we think about, create, host and track eLearning and other forms of learning content.

For me the top five benefits are:

1. It completely decouples content from host LMS

Content can be launched and consumed from anywhere and the content can use any form factor. There is no longer a need for a supporting Learning Management System (LMS) – just a Learning Record Store (LRS) – somewhere to store learning records and achievement events.

2. It enables content authors to build content in any way they like

There is no more reliance on the browser and associated browser-based technologies. Content authors can now choose the most appropriate form factor and technology for their content, yet still enable individuals to record learning events and achievements. Developers of mobile apps, simulators and games can all use the Experience API to track learning events.

3. It supports disconnected scenarios

The content doesn’t need a continual Internet or server connection. So long as it can occasionally connect, learning events can easily be held locally and then replayed to the LRS when next connected. This is ideal for mobile learning and disconnected scenarios in general.

4. It supports platform transition

This refers to the fact that you can start consuming some content on your computer at work, continue with it on your mobile device while travelling home, and then finish it later perhaps on your home computer.

This capability is more down to the content and the way it’s delivered, but the Experience API inherently supports this mode of operation. It’s commonplace already, with eBook readers such as Kindle and Apple’s iBooks, where your current chapter position is tracked across devices and with learning platforms, such as Agylia, where you can seamlessly switch between web and mobile form factors while consuming content.

5. It will help to unify eLearning with learning in general

Learning events and achievements can be recorded based on learning, as opposed to your completion of a piece of eLearning. So classroom based training, experiential training in the workplace, game-based training, recording the fact you’ve read a new book or attended a seminar and learned something – all of this is accommodated.