What is cmi5? (And why should you care?)

Who am I? Art Werkenthin President & CEO of RISC, Inc. –Over 25 years experience in LMS Industry –Early adopter of xAPI (.90) –First LMS to be xAPI 1.0 compliant Member: AICC cmi5 Committee Contact: –

Agenda History of LMS to content communication What’s wrong with SCORM? Does xAPI replace SCORM? Benefits of xAPI as a base on which to build. What is cmi5? Goals & Benefits of cmi5

History: LMS to Content AICC (1993) CMI Guidelines for interoperability SCORM Sharable Content Object Reference Model –2001, 2004 –Initially based on AICC xAPI (2013)

SCORM LMS to training content communication Designed for the desktop Uses a common packaging, communication and launching mechanism

What’s wrong with SCORM? Content must reside in same domain as LMS –Cannot put content on CDN to improve performance –Inefficient (Bandwidth anyone?) SCORM is complicated SCORM content MUST run in a browser –No mobile “apps” (3 rd party offline players) –No “off line” (yet…but it is more than 10 years old) Easily Hacked - Old technology …and on and on…

Doesn’t xAPI fix all that? Scheduling Assessment Competencies Learning Records Sequencing User Management Requirements Tracking Certification Curricula Definition Delivery Search Course Management Compliance Preferences Reports What is xAPI…really?

xAPI Benefits as a Platform Learning can be recorded wherever it occurs Learning content does not have to reside in a browser Non-browser learning –Mobile apps –Social Networking –Gaming & Simulations

xAPI Benefits (cont.) Learning content can be distributed (CDN) Uses modern, common technology –(REST, JSON) Much simpler than SCORM Very flexible –Define your own verbs –Define your own extensions –…that’s good and bad

xAPI is not the new SCORM xAPI defines communication layer and storage. LMS is not mentioned…no LMS to content communication (80 vs. 20) SCORM features are not included –Sequencing –Bookmarking –Completion criteria You COULD use extensions, but there is no interoperability.

xAPI is not the new SCORM “By itself, xAPI was never designed to replace what SCORM does.... With ADL now taking the reins on this spec effort and planning DoD's strategic transition towards xAPI and cmi5, the time is now right to learn about what this does and the advantages cmi5 offers.” Aaron Silvers

What is cmi5 Next generation Content To LMS interoperability specification Built on top of xAPI

cmi5 Goals Interoperability Extensibility Mobile Support

Sample “Rule ”: The 9 cmi5 Verbs Launched (LMS) Initialized (AU*) Completed (AU) Passed (AU) Failed (AU) Abandoned (LMS) Waived (LMS) Terminated (AU) Satisfied (LMS) AU may make whatever additional valid xAPI statements it wants. * Assignable Unit

cmi5 Provides: Course Structure –Similar to the content package of SCORM –Supports 1 or more Assignable Units (AU) –Designed for interoperability across systems Launch Mechanisms –“Any Window” –“Own Window” Content Entitlement –AU developer defined –“Other”

cmi5 Provides (cont.): Session Tracking –State –Extensible Completion Criteria –AU defines “Move On” criteria Passed? Completed? Completed and Passed? –Mastery Score AU-specific launch parameters

Benefits of cmi5 Content defined data stored in LRS –Pictures, video, audio recordings, documents Data sharing across content using LRS Content-defined launch mechanism –“Can I get rid of those SCORM windows / frames for you?” Distributed content Mobile device support What’s in it for me?

Content Defined Data Use Case: You build a content module that wants to record the exact steps a user took to perform a procedure, with video. Without cmi5: You need to customize your LMS to store the data. With cmi5: All the data can be recorded in the LRS and fetched for reporting.

Data Sharing Use Case: You have a multi-AU course. You need data entered by the student in AU #1 displayed or used in AU #3. Without cmi5: You must either customize the LMS to make this data available, or record it in a custom system. With cmi5: Your content can record the data in the LRS in AU #1, and fetch it in AU #3.

Launch Method SCORM, or “Own Window”“Any Window”

Distributed Content Use Case: You have a giant e-learning module with video, voice, animations, etc. You need to deliver to students all over the world. Without cmi5 With SCORM, your content is loaded to your LMS server in Houston and your students have a slow, agonizing user experience. With cmi5 Your content is distributed globally through a content- distribution network and your students are happy.

Mobile Support cmi5 gives you the mobile capabilities of xAPI that SCORM does not have. cmi5 uses modern technology like REST and JSON

cmi5 Status “Sandstone” release Final release scheduled for Fall 2015

Final Note Part of this presentation was shamelessly plagiarized from “cmi5 AND xAPI” by Bill McDonald (Boeing Flight Services) and Kris Rockwell (Hybrid Learning Systems). mi5.pdf

References cmi5 Specification cmi5 Overview scorm-cmi-5/ ADL on-the-experience-api/ xAPI Specification

What is cmi5? Thanks for attending Art