Minimising frustration
Watch out for the learning record store about to burst onto the scene I’m one of those odd people who quite likes change; however there is so much of it going on at the moment I’m getting giddy. Not every change in life is pleasant, but one of the positives in my life is a new role and the opportunity to work with a top of the range learning management system (LMS). It has been in the e-learning industry as long as I have but this is the first time I’ve been able to get me hands on it. It is a very flexible system and it will do everything you could ever want, which inevitably means it is rather complex. My head is spinning with all the new processes I’ve had to learn; i.e. how to set up the courseware, the learners, the administrators, privileges, audience types and reporting to name a few of the obvious ones. Also out of the box the LMS is not pretty or user friendly so there is work to do to improve learner experience.
There are still some very familiar things though – everyone has the same issues with tracking; which is neither the fault of the LMS, the content nor the standards (allegedly) but every organisation I know has these same challenges. So early on even without knowing the detail of the LMS I could start to help minimise the frustration for this organisation’s learners from my previous experience.
These two areas – the complexity of the LMS and the tracking issues – can result in a less than satisfactory experience for the learner; taking the focus off the learning content and onto the system. So it is exciting news that the anticipated e-learning standards changes in 2012 could tackle the way the content communicates.
There are a few projects going on as I’ve mentioned in my column over this last year but today I’m going back to look at the progress of Project Tin Can which is in its third phase. As well as tackling the above issues there are lots of other features and benefits too. The full information can be found at http://scorm.com/tincan. First though, let me introduce a new type of system that is likely to burst onto the scene soon. It’s a learning record store (LRS) which is different from the traditional LMS because it doesn’t actually launch the content.
Project Tin Can proposes that content or activity lives on its own and is launched (outside the LMS) separate from the system where the learning records will ultimately be held.
When an activity or piece of content has been completed a message is sent to the LRS. This has the potential to simplify matters.
This message is at the core of the Tin Can application program interface (API) and has a simple sentence structure: actor, verb, object.
For example: “Jack completed safety training.” “Christie experienced the Berlin Wall in Second Life.” These statements can be simple or complex. The actors, verbs, and objects can vary widely, and can be described with varying levels of detail. Actors/learners can also be described in various different ways. An actor doesn’t have to be a learner – it can be an instructor that’s asserting a statement. It’s up to the end user to decide the level of complexity that is needed.
The Tin Can API also removes the need for an internet browser. This could alleviate some of the tracking issues that are deemed to be browser issues. It also opens up a lot of possibilities for how users experience the content, and what that content can be. It is claimed that creating native mobile apps, simulators, and serious games that conform to the Tin Can API is easy.
So the Tin Can API allows for a learner to start an activity on one platform (such as a computer at home) and continue that activity later on a different device (like a mobile phone). This is a simple but powerful new capability.
Unfortunately, not everyone embraces change or can make changes quickly so although the API has been developed and some prototypes made there is probably another 12 months of research required because as always the devil is in the detail.
However there is a rumour that some of the major authoring tool and LCMS vendors are already looking to take a subset of Project Tin Can for use particularly in the mobile market. I keep saying it “watch this space” but I’m like a kid a Christmas, can’t wait for the day to arrive.
Fiona Leteney is an e-learning implementation consultant