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Learning Record Store FAQ
An LRS, or Learning Record Store, is a database used to store all the information in your learning ecosystem in xAPI format.
An entry in xAPI format always has the following syntax:
Examples:
This data can be written to the LRS from any website and not only from traditional LMS, LEP or LXP. This is what makes the xAPI standard an invaluable advance in the e-learning industry. It allows you to capture usage data outside of traditional learning platforms, but also to store in the Learning Record Store other information than what you would otherwise have stored in Scorm or AICC format from your content.
For example, you can store information from CRM, feedback or engagement applications, social networks… This is why ADL (the organization that developed the xAPI standard and previously Scorm) is constantly expanding the list of available verbs. With the increasing complexity of data coming from learning ecosystems, a more standardized norm was needed.
To not place this new standard in a straitjacket like Scorm:
An LRS is a cloud based database that connects with the different parts of a learning ecosystem. This database is specifically configured to receive and process data in xAPI format. When a learning activity covered by xAPI takes place within the ecosystem, the LRS records the related information.
ADL (the organization that developed the xAPI standard, and previously SCORM) keeps expanding the list of available verbs in order to allow for greater granularity.
Systems that comply with the xAPI specification record interaction, action, and completion data between people and learning content or learning moments. These interactions can occur anywhere and often indicate a learning opportunity. The recording process involves sending an xAPI statement to a Learning Record Store (LRS). Each LRS can then share the recorded xAPI statements with other LRSs and with a range of other learning technologies, such as a learning analytics solution.
Although an LRS can be connected to any xAPI compliant system, it will not fully solve the problem of data fragmentation. Moreover, if you use an LRS as a simple copy of the data you could just as well have stored in your LMS (such as the completion and score of a SCORM content), you are sacrificing much of the value that an LRS can bring.
There is indeed a relationship between the LRS and the LXP. Although an LRS can be connected to any xAPI compliant system, it will not fully solve the problem of data fragmentation. The LXP, as the single point of entry into the ecosystem and integrated with other systems, acts as a data funnel. The LXP has a metadata model common to the entire ecosystem, which helps standardize data and further enriches it with information on skills (through a framework), job data, development plans, new resources, and modalities.
In a way, an LXP can greatly help maximize the added value of your data architecture.
The first advantage of the LRS is that it propels your ecosystem into the world of Big Data. In fact, the LRS significantly improves both the quality and the quantity of data processed according to the universal 4Vs data model:
Volume: More granular data on each learning activity.
Variety: More modalities, formats, and content sources.
Velocity: A cloud based specialized database.
Value: Data enriched by other systems.
The LRS therefore offers major opportunities to impact company performance through analytics.
It is also important to note that, among the usual departments in a company, Learning is one of the last to pass the “test” of the 4Vs. Sales, marketing, and even other HR functions made the leap long ago. Rest assured, it is not because we are failing, but because Learning faces many complexities that others do not (such as skill frameworks, the diversity of formats, and so on).
If you use an LRS as a simple copy of the data you could just as well have stored in your LMS, you are sacrificing much of the benefits of the LRS. That is, if you only store the completion and score of a SCORM content by merely changing the export settings of your authoring tool.
The LRS is designed to capture the informal dimension of learning in the flow of work, as well as to cross learning data with related data in order to measure the impact of learning on other day to day activities.
A second advantage, and not a minor one, is that storing all your learning data in an LRS significantly reduces your dependence on an LMS provider.
We all know the difficulty of migrating data from LMS A to LMS B when changing providers. You first need to export historical data. Then you need to check your content library (SCORM compatibility, multi SCO, etc., which vary from one vendor to another). Finally, you need to transform this data and re import it into the new LMS.
With an LRS, data migration is greatly simplified.
You automatically export all the data from your current LMS and copy it into your LRS (as a backup system) along with your other learning data flows. If you ever need to switch LMS providers, you only need to reconnect your new LMS to your existing LRS. No more data migration issues.
The LRS also allows you to maintain sovereignty over your data if you host it yourself rather than relying on a platform provider (LMS or otherwise). And in cases where it is hosted by a third party (for example, at Bealink we provide our own LRS solution integrated with our platform, which companies can choose to use), the organization still retains full control over the data.
Yes, absolutely, because the standard is still slow to take hold. That said, it is probably better to anticipate, given the benefits mentioned, rather than undergo a forced transition due to new authoring tools (VR, etc.).
The time when the LRS will become indispensable is coming slowly but surely, and your organization will be grateful to have implemented it when the moment arrives.
Some vendors have specialized in creating LRS solutions. You can find an open source Learning Record Store (LRS) on the web, for example on the official ADL website or on Rustici’s site.
The low entry cost, thanks to the availability of open source LRS solutions, is an additional advantage for prototyping its implementation within your organization.
You will then be able to control where your LRS data is stored, since you will be hosting it yourself.
There are also vendors specialized in creating solutions to visualize the data stored in an LRS. These are called Learning Analytics. Unlike most LRS solutions, these are often paid.
(Or vice versa)
Yes, the LRS and xAPI work together. An LRS is specifically designed to handle data in xAPI format, and especially xAPI verbs, which makes it more efficient when processing this format but less so when dealing with any other format.
There are different options. You can connect your LRS to a specialized Learning Analytics solution or export the data directly to your BI tool.
If you have a single training tool at the company level, you do not really need an LRS. It would make very little sense. Overall, once a company has several tools that are difficult to streamline, it may be wise to consider connecting them through an LRS.
Yes, absolutely.
It is the platforms that must become not only xAPI compliant (meaning they allow connection with an LRS and support custom xAPI statements) but, more importantly, xAPI friendly in the sense that they provide automated xAPI statements, a proprietary LRS, integrations with other LRSs, and services built around xAPI.
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