The Experience API (xAPI) has been in production for more than a year now, and it is becoming more important for training and development teams to learn the ABCs of this important new set of technologies and approaches to tracking and reporting.

In this session, you will learn what xAPI is and what it isn’t. You will learn how statements are generally structured, and how it is typically being put into practice. You will explore how xAPI is being leveraged by progressive organizations to improve the learning experience, streamline tracking, perform common tasks, and drive engagement. Finally, we will look at the myriad challenges. Just because it’s out there doesn’t mean your team will have the right platforms, tools, practices, and mind-set to take advantage of all the features (attributes) and benefits xAPI has to offer.

In this session, you will learn:

• The basic structure and tools that comprise the xAPI approach, including statement syntax, construction, and management
• To determine which platforms and tools are xAPI ready and how they can be used in an existing learning environment
• To balance when to use xAPI over Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) and whether they are mutually exclusive
• New use cases to apply tracking to nontraditional learning assignments and interactions
• The new technical challenges to overcome with learning management system (LMS) integration, security, and mobile access (especially when offline)

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
xAPI , Learning Record Stores.

Free tools like Google Analytics can reveal important characteristics about online learner behavior, and help instructors and course developers make confident design and technology decisions. With a thoughtful analytics implementation derived from course learning goals, instructors can better understand what aspects of their course were successful and communicate this story to their businesses and institutions.

In this session, you will learn how the Google Analytics Edu team used Google Analytics to make more informed instructional design and technology decisions based on learner behavior in their Analytics Academy courses. You will learn how the team set up their Google Analytics instance, the importance of creating a measurement plan, how to use personas to help segment behavior data, create goals to understand the course value, how to set up tracking for specific behavioral events, and how to use all this data to engage learners and tell a compelling story about your course effectiveness.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to use Google Analytics to promote online learner course engagement
• How users navigate your online course, where they drop off, and how to re-engage them
• How to track specific course events like video completions or clicking interactive graphics
• How to design learner registration fields used to segment behavior data for analysis
• How to create a measurement plan that maps back to course learning objectives
• How to create Google Analytics goals to determine your online course return on investment (ROI)
• How to better understand the demographics and geographic locations of your learners

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Google Analytics and the Google Analytics Academy CourseBuilder MOOC.

Medical education in North America is taught in a decentralized manner with in-class coursework delivered in small blocks and students gaining learning experiences in hospitals and other institutions outside of the university. Medical schools need a way to capture and analyze these experiences to get a true picture of a student’s readiness to treat patients. Furthermore, learning requirements are set to change for medical residents from set-year programs to a competency-based model. Current LMSs alone aren’t able to tie outside experiences to competencies.

In this session, you will learn about the resources, logistical issues, and planning that were required to implement the Experience API (xAPI) and a learning record store (LRS) in an effort to reach specific desired outcomes at uOttawa. You will learn how uOttawa leveraged an LRS to capture the data from a content management system (CMS) with a combination of HTML and rapid authored content and then designed advanced reporting functions not found in other tools on the market. Additionally, you will review the future expansion plans and vision that the uOttawa Faculty of Medicine has for the xAPI in medical education.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to gain access to data and insights not possible before
• About the resources and expertise required for a successful xAPI implementation
• About the risks and challenges of implementing the xAPI
• The benefits of conscientious design and planning for capturing data in a purposeful manner

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Learning record store, analytics, content management system, connected devices, Experience API

Competency-based education within the University of Wisconsin System’s Flexible Option program allows students to demonstrate mastery of a subject area and earn a degree without adhering to a rigid course schedule. This shift in higher education is part of a larger move away from learning measured by seat time or credit hours to an evaluation of learning outcomes.

In this session you will learn how new faculty collaborators bridge the knowledge gap between this new mode of assessment and traditional modes. You will learn about “authenticity” as a demonstration of expert thinking. You will see how to align assessments with competencies rather than specific materials, which allows learners of different backgrounds and experiences to demonstrate mastery in a way that can be consistently evaluated. You will proceed through three stages, each focusing on one or more of eight characteristics of quality assessments developed from existing research.

In this session, you will learn:

• Ways that your current assessments can translate into competency-based assessments
• How to identify two to three assessment strategies for competency-based education
• How to differentiate between competency-based assessments and traditional assessments
• How to describe the stages of the drafting process to create competency-based assessments

Audience:
Novice and intermediary designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
D2L (now Brightspace)

Regardless of your industry or job focus, learning management systems remain the central focus for corporate learning and the foundation upon which most types of traditional, informal, social, and mobile learning is built, deployed, and tracked. With numerous industry analysts announcing the death of the LMS, you can't afford to miss this critical update for today’s learning leaders, business decision makers, LMS administrators, and learners of all types.

This session, jointly presented by The eLearning Guild and Adobe Systems, will focus on research findings on the current state of learning management system usage and the future role of learning management systems for corporate training over the next three years, including the most important features needed to meet the needs of the business.  You will explore topics including:

• What challenges organizations face with learning management systems today
• The number of LMS providers typically in use within corporations
• Typical implementation and set-up timeframe
• LMS satisfaction in organizations, and what drives satisfaction
• Future purchase plans for LMS products
• Required future LMS capabilities for mobile learning, gamification, and learner engagement
• The need for content authoring and LMS integration
• Desired LMS features and functionality over the next three years

Every year, we spend millions of dollars on training and development. One of the ways we can determine the value achieved is by using analytics to assess who is using the content, where, when, and how. But with all this data available, which data points matter? Deciphering the ways to analyze a program’s effectiveness can be confusing. And just because we have a lot of data, does that really make any of it valuable? 

In this session, we’ll compare Experience API (xAPI) and Google Analytics to learn about your users. Using real-world examples, we’ll look at what data is available and how to find it. We’ll also discuss why some data is more valuable than others and why big data isn’t always good data. Lastly, we’ll look at how all the data points come together to really bring into view a clear image of who your users are and why it’s okay if they enjoy a frozen treat while enjoying their class.

In this session, you will learn:

• To be more familiar with Google Analytics and xAPI reporting
• The analytic process
• Which data points will help you understand your users best
• To evaluate what you really need to learn about your users

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Google Analytics, xAPI, JavaScript

Tracking learning and performance activities to be able to analyze them and interpret their value has always been a desire of learning professionals. Having this information naturally leads to the opportunity to refine the effectiveness of the learning experiences. Until now, this has been time and cost prohibitive.

In this session, you will learn how the Experience API (xAPI) is allowing us to look deeper at what is happening and how that data can influence future design and learning environment decisions. You will explore a detailed use case involving the analysis and resolution of a productivity challenge in a large sales and marketing organization. The use case will include descriptions and explanations of how learning analytics and the xAPI can be applied, including needs analysis, solution design, data collection, data visualization, solution monitoring, and building on success. You will learn how analytics can be used to address workplace performance challenges and how to leverage the xAPI.

In this session, you will learn:

• The value of both descriptive and predictive learning analytics in the workplace
• How a common performance issue may be examined and resolved through the disciplined application of learning analytics
• How xAPI may be used to support the understanding of bridging a workplace’s performance and learning ecosystems
• How to organize the use of learning data analytics in your organization

Audience:
Intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Experience API.