If you're not yet as familiar with xAPI and LRS technologies, some of the following questions might be ringing in your mind right now:

• How do I know my company needs an LRS?
• Why do I need an LRS? 
• Do I still need an LMS?

The answers to these questions depend on your company's goals, goals, and resources.

LRS technology is the result of the new habits that the technology context has fostered. And this means corporate leaders are pressured to implement training programs that adapt to the new learning expectations, behaviors, and needs of their employees.

Learning is no longer happening in a fixed place, at a specific time, or even in a linear way. It happens everywhere and anytime. By implementing an LRS in your company, you will be able to capture the activities that occur by "learning in the flow of work".

In other words, you will be able to collect and store every learning experience – from what happens online and offline, and not just within the LMS. Such information will be helpful to you to give a more detailed image of what REALLY happens in your training programs and thus optimize them accordingly.

Read on and find out the key signs that will help you recognize if it's time to give a Learning Record Store (LRS) an opportunity in your company.

A brief summary: what is LRS and what is xAPI?

In a previous article, we delve into both concepts.

Here's a summary:

LRS (Learning Record Store) is a data storage system that allows you to receive, store, and return learning records. With this technology, you can collect all the activity of each employees' learning experience, as well as keep track of how they interact with the content.

The most important task of the LRS is to store xAPI data.

xAPI: Experience API or xAPI is an eLearning technology that records and tracks all types of learning experiences (eg podcasts, videos, blogs). This is an eLearning specification that allows content and different systems to communicate with each other.  In other words, it's a way to collect data from multiple sources and interactions made by a person, either offline and/or online in one place. Whether through mobile learning, social learning, gamification, etc.

The main advantage is that the xAPI allows you to implement several new capabilities that were not supported by SCORM, such as:

• Take eLearning out of the web browser
• E-learning in native mobile apps
• Platform transition; e.g. start e-learning on a mobile device, end it on a computer
• The ability to track games and simulations
• The ability to track performance in the real world
• Tracking learning plans and objectives

So, do you need an LRS? Pay attention to these signs:

1) You have informal and formal learning happening in different places, outside the LMS

Today, people learn in different places besides THE LMS: games, coaching sessions or mentoring 1-1, TED talks, YouTube videos, and many more. In the future, it will be even more. LRS with the support of xAPI technology makes these combined learning experiences visible and measurable.

The goal of using an LRS in your company is about going beyond traditional ways to capture learning through an LMS. It's about connecting learning with the real world and real performance in more measurable ways.

xAPI allows you to track employees' most social and informal interactions with content and various platforms.

Its scope goes beyond the browser. You can also record activities that happen offline. Because this technology tracks experiences, not just learning.

Read more: Understanding the differences between an LMS platform and an LRS for business

2) You require more detailed analytics

Traditionally, an LMS has only been able to report very limited data, such as whether or not an eLearning course was completed, and how the student scored. But today many companies need to go beyond these methods. They require a more data-driven approach to continuous measurement, providing demonstrable evidence of the impact of learning on the company. Because it is designed to work with xAPI, an LRS can store and record all learning that takes place outside of an LMS.

With an LRS, companies will be able to track more closely what an employee is learning and how they are learning it (their behavior), as well as their performance in understanding the learning material through assessments and requests on the job. In other words, this allows one to report on every action a learner takes, whether it's completing an eLearning unit, attending a training conference, or having a one-on-one meeting with a manager. Ultimately, you get a much clearer picture of the student's progress. The Learning Record Store (LRS) can capture almost any type of data; therefore giving businesses the power to extract data from multiple sources. 

Such technology offers the ability to create comprehensive learning analytics, due to the large amount of data it can record and store. Not limited to the devices they use or the type of learning content.

Important note:
In case you want to continue using your LMS, it is important to mention that it can be integrated with the LRS. An LMS offers control over the learning content that is delivered to employees. With an LRS, it is possible to identify the impact of that offer on the learning process.

By integrating an LRS and xAPI technology in an LMS, it is possible to obtain detailed and complete information that allows getting a broader and more detailed picture of the learning experience. This powerful combination not only improves continuous learning programs and learning activities but also leads to better performance and has a positive impact on the organization.

3) You use different tools in your company and you need something to connect them

Using various tools to manage and track learning experiences in your business can be complex and tedious. However, if you connect these tools in one place, it would be easier to manage. This is what you'll get with xAPI and LRS.

xAPI allows the LRS to connect to a wide range of other digital systems and tools. In other words, it allows starting the conversation about more than just independent platforms, but learning ecosystems that connect multiple platforms on formal and informal learning in one place.

An LRS will allow your company to store all your data in one place. 

If you would like to know more about how to implement an LRS in your company click here to arrange an appointment with our team.

4) You want to offer more personalized learning experiences

In the eLearning industry, we haven't achieved real personalized learning because we only collect about 10% of the available learning data.

However, with the use of a Learning Record Store (LRS), that 10% can increase by up to 70–80%. This means that with the combination of these technologies (xAPI + LRS), corporate leaders will be able to understand their employees much better.

An xAPI-powered LRS allows you to:

• Find out how students collaborate with each other and where.
• Better understand how each student prefers to learn. Either watching videos or reading some eBooks.
• Identify each student's level of participation to see what types of course content are effective
• Detect employees who are struggling and provide appropriate assistance at the right time.

In short, all the information stored in an LRS will be useful to customize the learning paths of your collaborators based on their specific interests, needs, and experiences. You can share relevant content to each contributor automatically based on the interest shown and the scores obtained in the assessments made.

If you deliver personalized content, participant engagement will be greater. In addition, you can optimize each person's learning process by knowing the individual interaction with the content and what their difficulties are. All of this will strengthen not only your training strategy but your company.

Also read: 5 Essential Mobile Learning Design Rules You Should Be Following