Standards and affordances of 21st-century digital learning: Using the Experience Application Programming Interface and the Augmented Reality Learning Experience Model to track engagement in extended reality

Abstract

<p class="Abstract">The development of new extended reality (XR) technologies for learning enables the capture of a richer set of data than has previously been possible. To derive a benefit from this wealth of data requires new structures appropriate to the new learning activities these immersive learning tools afford. The Experience Application Programming Interface (xAPI) and the Augmented Reality Learning Experience Model (ARLEM) standards have been developed in response, and their adoption will help ensure interoperability as XR learning is more widely deployed. This paper briefly describes what is different about XR for learning and provides an account of xAPI and its structures as well as design principles for its use. The relationship between environmental context and ARLEM is explained, and a case study of a VR experience using xAPI is examined. The paper ends with an account of some of the promises for collecting data from early childhood learning experiences and an unsuccessful attempt at a study using Augmented Reality with young children.</p>