Tin Can activity IDs: Storyline 2 and Watershed LRS

Hi Renee, 

Tin Can API lets an activity be defined in a statement or in the tincan.xml file. We've chosen to define all activities in the tincan.xml file to improve LMS reporting. As a result, learners' responses must be cross-referenced with the tincan.xml file to be readable.

To be specific, the tincan.xml file gives the LMS all the metadata about the content (question text, answer choices, etc.), then we send statements to the LMS with unique identifiers that are defined in the tincan.xml file. To generate meaningful descriptors for learners' responses, the LMS needs to cross-reference the unique identifiers with the tincan.xml file.

This architecture is part of the Tin Can API specification defined here.

Here's an excerpt that describes what we're talking about:

"What TinCan.xml should have is: Any activity details (such as activity descriptions) that should be available to reporting systems, but will not be (or may not be) sent by the activity provider when reporting statements. That is, TinCan.xml may be used to describe activities to the LRS, as an alternative to doing that description at runtime."

The reason we exclude meaningful descriptors from our statements to the LMS in favor of collecting them in the tincan.xml file is so the LMS will know about all answer choices and not just those the learner selected.

You can find more technical information to help LMS developers implement Tin Can API for Articulate content here.

Please let us know if you need anything else!

Hi Renee,

do you know what system should do the translation ? The LRS, the LMS ?

Thanks !

Hello Philippe! 

Looks like you are popping in to assist Renee here, but this thread is a bit dated and I'm not sure if she's still subscribed here.

You are certainly welcome to reach out to the user directly via the 'Contact Me' option on the user profile if you do not hear back soon.

Hi Philippe, 

Since this discussion is older, Renee may no longer be subscribed. You can also reach out to her directly through her ELH Profile here. 

If you're having trouble, other folks from the community may be able to chime in and help. Can you tell us a bit more about what's happening in your LMS/LRS? 

Hi Leslie & Alyssa,

actually my question was intended to an Articulate staff member or a heroe ;)

Would you know where to use the tincan.xml file ? LRS, LMS, Analytics ?
I don't mean custom development but rather currently available tools.

Thanks :)

Sorry that we misunderstood Philippe :) Addressing your question to Renee is why I missed that.

I'm not sure that I'm following your question fully.

Our documentation on Tin Can API can be found here, and the data should be shared with your appropriate reporting option if that's what you meant.

Just let me know what issue you are having with your project/course if needed along with what version of Storyline you are using.

Hi,

I am publishing my Articulate Storyline 360 course in LMS: TinCan API standards. The course has custom xAPI statement using javascript, that sends data to Watershed LRS. If I publish the course in SCORM 1.2, everything works. If I publish to TinCan API, then there is no connectivity to the LRS. On debugging, it shows bad request server error (400). I am testing the course in SCORM Cloud. Has anyone used custom TinCan statement in Storyline course (to an LRS) and published the course in TinCan API standards with success?

Hi there, Tanmay!

While I'm not well-versed with custom statements, I'm happy to point you in the right direction. Our Implementing Tin Can API to Support Articulate Content guide is a great place to start. 

I'm also excited to see what insight the community will share with you!