Innovator Interview: How cmi5 is Changing eLearning

Modern learning organizations take note: cmi5 will change how we track all types of training.

In the world of learning management systems, there is a mysterious new buzz phrase floating around: cmi5.  In this week's Q&A, we sit down with Art Werkenthin, president of RISC, Inc. and a member of the ADL cmi5 committee.  

This interview is the first of a five-part interview series showcasing the e-learning speakers of L.A. Learn Tech 2015.  Check out the conference sessions and register now!  

Q: What was your career path like before you started in the Learning & Development industry?  Is there something specific that sparked your desire to join the L&D community?

A: I started out building environmental compliance software for Amoco Oil Company in Chicago.  During my time there, Crown Petroleum had a major accident that spurred substantial changes in OSHA regulation around training.  Due to my regulatory background I was asked to build a training tracking system to comply with the new regulations.   I got involved in rolling that system out to Amoco’s refineries around the country and became very interested in adult learning.  I decided to leave Amoco and build a compliance-focused Learning Management System to help other companies ensure the safety of their employees.

Q: As you've shared with us, RISC, Inc. was the first LMS vendor to adopt xAPI 1.0. Did you have any concerns about being an early adopter? Why did you feel it was important?

A: I am a firm believer in the 70-20-10 rule and have always felt that most LMS systems were not tracking the key components of learning.  Just think about it; if you are a manager, did you become a manager by going to a class?  Of course not.  You learned from others and from experience.  So when xAPI was first proposed I got very excited that we finally had a data model to track all types of training.

We were not very concerned about being an early adopter for two reasons.  First, xAPI (unlike SCORM) was very easy to implement.  We are able to get our Learning Record Store up in less than 1 week, so there was not a huge investment.  Second, with ADL’s support it was clear to me that xAPI would be a success.  I spoke recently at xAPI Camp, a Connections Forum conference in Orlando.  For an entire day we had 7 minute long presentations on xAPI projects.  The breadth and depth of the projects was very exciting. 

Q: You are heavily involved in the development of cmi5. Will you please give us a background of what cmi5 is and how its development began? What do you hope to accomplish as you develop cmi5?

The development of the cmi5 specification was started by the Aviation Industry Computing Committee, or AICC.  Originally cmi5 had its own data model and communication scheme, but when xAPI emerged we changed cmi5 to be a layer on top of xAPI.

At its core, cmi5 is the “use case” for xAPI in the LMS world.  You can think of it as the next generation of SCORM. 

Similar to SCORM, you will be able to import cmi5 “packages” into an LMS.  The LMS can then launch and track the cmi5 content.  That’s where the similarity to SCORM ends.

• Since cmi5 uses xAPI as its base, it is much more flexible than SCORM. While there are a small number of required cmi5 “verbs”, you can send any valid xAPI statement that you wish to the LRS.  This means you are not restricted to the data tracked by SCORM.

• Since xAPI supports mobile platforms, so does cmi5. The SCORM specification does not address mobile delivery.

• SCORM requires that your training content and your LMS reside in the same “domain” (think “web server”). If your students are dispersed around the country or around the world this can lead to real performance problems for your e-learning.  cmi5 overcomes this issue by allowing your content to reside anywhere, even on a mobile device.  So you can place large content objects close to your students to improve their user experience.

Q: As an LMS vendor, you have a unique opportunity to see how companies use their learning management systems. Do you feel companies are fully utilizing their systems? What advice do you have for companies seeking to innovate and expand their e-learning programs?

A: Most companies are using only a fraction of their LMS.  Typically RFP’s are developed by a committee, and the end result is such a cornucopia of features that no company can possibly use all of them.  I think it is important to consider what features you will actually use, mark them as “must haves” and mark the rest as “nice to have”.

I believe that part of the problem is that inadequate resources are devoted to managing the LMS in most organizations.  Think about a system like SAP.  Usually companies spend millions installing and configuring SAP.  Then they have an army of people to support it.  Yet on a day-to-day basis, more employees interact with the LMS than SAP.  In many organizations, I would argue that the LMS is the most touched piece of software, after the Email and Instant Messaging systems.  However, the LMS often managed by a very small number of people.

I believe knowledge of xAPI is critical to the future of e-learning.  E-learning will continue to shift towards performance support and just-in-time delivery.  xAPI is the best way to track the associated data.

Q: What advice would you give to someone selecting an LMS?

1)      Don’t sign a long-term contract.  We frequently run across customers unhappy with their LMS provider but they are stuck in a 5 year contract.

2)      Just because it costs more doesn’t mean it is better.

Q: How do your customers inspire you?

A: Our customers are always coming up with new ways to deliver leading edge tools.  A good example is our PDF Annotator that stores student annotations using xAPI statements.  In that case, the customer came to us with a problem.  They were no longer allowed to distribute training materials to their members on USB drives.  They wanted students to be able to access the documents in class, make annotations in the documents, then view those document annotations back at their desk.  We scoured the market, trying to find an existing solution to their problem.  When we saw xAPI we realized that it was a perfect solution to their problem.  Our customer had developed a perfect “use case” for xAPI before xAPI existed.

‎Q: What future trends do you anticipate in the e-learning industry?

A: I believe that “mobile learning” is the most important trend.  There are two parts to that:

1)      I believe training is becoming more “just-in-time”. 

With traditional learning, we are teaching people about something they ‘might’ encounter.  With mobile learning we have the ability to teach about something they ‘are’ encountering, right now, in real-time. 

Some people like to distinguish this as performance support, but I don’t see why it makes any difference.  It’s all learning.

2)      Due to the nature of mobile, a good percentage of learning will take place outside of the LMS and we need to track it.  This will drive better adoption of xAPI by LMS companies.

Big thanks to Art Werkenthin for this week's Q&A!  For more information, check out Art's cmi5 / xAPI blogs.

Art will be speaking about cmi5 at L.A. Learn Tech 2015, hosted by ATD-Los Angeles on June 19th.  Check our Art's session description and register ASAP to reserve your seat.