These days most employee learning happens through unstructured situations and various tools, including the Internet, employees' own mobile devices, and social learning platforms such as Yammer. How can training and development professionals track and aggregate all of this learning in a consistent, reliable way?

Enter the Experience API (xAPI), an e-learning software specification that allows learning content and systems to record and track all types of learning experiences.

According to John Delano and Ali Shahrazad, authors of the April 2013 Infoline, "Using the Experience API to Track Learning," it's worth looking into the xAPI for your organization if you are unhappy with:

• what you currently know about employee effectiveness and performance based on the effort and money you put into creating and deploying training

• the fact that you have little knowledge and understanding of what is being learned in the natural workflow of your internal customers

• the way technology is hindering your ability to support and understand learning and development in your organization.

For the xAPI to be effective in your organization, you will need to assess design tools and systems, employee adoption, and leadership readiness.

These tips were adapted from the April 2013 Infoline, "Using the Experience API to Track Learning." For more information, go to www.astd.org/infoline.