10 Best Learning Record Store (LRS) Software in 2023
- November 23, 2022
Are you building an enterprise learning ecosystem? Maybe you just want to create better learning experiences for your customers?
Then you’ll need a learning record store (LRS)
But what is an LRS, and how will it help you reach your learning goals?
A learning record store is a must-have tool for educational content creators and learning managers. Whether you run a training program for your employees or customers (or both), a learning record store will help you collect data from different systems and evaluate learning experiences.
What is a Learning Record Store (LRS)?
A Learning Record Store (LRS) is a system that compiles and stores data about learning activities inside your learning ecosystem. An LRS is a part of the xAPI ecosystem.
What Is an xAPI Learning Ecosystem?
Experience API (xAPI) is an eLearning specification that makes it possible to record learning experiences from many technologies in a centralized record-keeping system.
It was developed to resolve challenges created by an old technical standard called SCORM. The latter was used to track results inside a learning management system (LMS) and was limited to tracking desktop content. After the development of xAPI, learning managers could collect data from any source on any device.
xAPI allows you to capture learning experiences from mobile apps, ebooks, social learning, and other eLearning sources. All these experiences are recorded in an LRS.
How Does an LRS Work?
Activities enabled by xAPI are recorded and stored in an LRS in the standard format.
An activity provider can be any eLearning source, like a video course, simulator, learning app, etc. Whenever learners interact with the activity provider, it generates xAPI statements based on the actions and learning behaviors that occur with it. The LRS receives xAPI statements and stores them in a database.
When the data gets to the LRS, you can check it in real-time, manage it, and create insightful reports. The LRS provides a 360-degree overview of your employees’ or customers’ learning activities.
You can connect your LRS to a learning management system and other applications, like reporting tools, workforce management applications, or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
What is the Difference Between LRS and LMS?
A learning management system (LMS) is an application used to plan, create, deliver, track, and manage learning opportunities. It usually goes hand in hand with an LRS.
LMS and LRS aren’t interchangeable. A learning management system is a more comprehensive solution that provides features a learning record store doesn’t.
While an LRS focuses on data collection and storage, an LMS enables user management, course registration, course delivery, content management, communication between you and learners, and many other processes.
If you choose to use an LMS within your xAPI ecosystem, it can work as an activity provider for your LRS by sending data about training activities to your database. Often, learning management systems come with an LRS inside.
A learning record store can exist within an LMS or on its own. Although you can go without an LMS or replace it with other systems, an LRS is an inevitable part of an xAPI ecosystem. For instance, if your organization has simple requirements around learning experience management, an LRS-only approach is a go-to option for you.
10 Best Learning Record Store (LRS) Software in 2023
How do you implement an LRS? There’s a range of vendors that can help you with it.
1. Veracity Learning
Veracity Learning is a software application that records and reports learning experiences using the Experience API (xAPI) specification. The system offers an xAPI-Conformant LRS that receives and stores xAPI statements. It fully supports all types of xAPI data, from statement signatures to document stores.
The Veracity Learning LRS is available in different forms:
- Cloud-hosted SaaS LRS for small and mid-sized businesses
- On-premises LRS for enterprises concerned about data security
- White-label LRS for resellers
- LRS Lite for free users
The platform also connects to other LRSs so that you can forward statements or send data between Veracity Learning and third-party learning record stores.
Moreover, Veracity Learning supports basic LMS features for user and course management. Administrators and instructors can use the platform to upload, organize, and deliver educational content.
2. Instancy
Instancy is an all-in-one learning platform that includes a wide range of solutions for learning management.
The LRS is a cloud-based application inside Instancy’s learning management system that captures data on web and mobile learning experiences and feeds it to the platform’s total learning ecosystem. To visualize the learning activity data, Instancy LRS provides dashboard widgets and detailed reports.
Instancy enables you to use the data captured with its LRS to automate the learning workflows and engage learners with multimedia-rich and gamified content.
Aside from the LRS, Instancy offers tools for
- User management
- Enrollment management
- Learning content management
- Workflow management
- Competency management
- Social learning
- Gamification and many more
3. ProProfs
ProProfs is top-rated employee training software with built-in cloud LMS and LRS. The platform combines tools for creating, delivering, and analyzing educational content and gives you a complete picture of your employees’ learning paths.
The ProProfs LRS tracks and reports on all the activities learners take through your training program.
The LRS is integrated with the ProProfs LMS, meaning you can create learning experiences from scratch and optimize them in one place. No need to implement different tools to create courses and manage reports — you have a single, centralized system for learning management.
4. Xyleme
Xyleme is learning management software offering end-to-end enterprise content management solutions for workforce development and customer training.
Another comprehensive learning management platform, Xyleme has a built-in LRS that collects data both on content engagement and learner performance. Xyleme’s dynamic dashboards uncover all the robust analytics you need to assess the effectiveness of your training programs.
You can also go granular and analyze individual user performance — a much-needed feature for employee onboarding.
5. Sponge
Sponge is a comprehensive digital learning management platform used by world-famous companies, like IKEA and PayPal. It’s a popular solution among enterprises looking to create effective training programs for the global workforce and high-impact teams.
Its Learning Record Store technology is built into the Spark learning management system to enable learning and business data tracking and storage. Whether you train your learners with mobile content, desktop courses, games, or simulations, the LRS always gives you real-time insights into their progress.
The Sponge LRS monitors and stores a wide variety of learning experiences, from content engagement to test scores. Furthermore, the LRS allows you to effortlessly retrieve data and launch content outside your LMS.
You can also go granular and analyze individual user performance — a much-needed feature when you onboard a new hire.
6. Rustici
Rustici is a digital learning software that enables companies to create, distribute, manage, and monitor educational content with any of the eLearning standards (SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, and AICC).
The Rustici LRS is an integratable, ADL-conformant Learning Record Store that integrates with your LMS or learning analytics platform.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one tool that brings together an LMS and LRS, Rustici isn’t right for you. However, if you already have a Learning Management System in place and need a reliable solution to return xAPI statements, Rustici is a good option.
You can also go granular and analyze individual user performance — a much-needed feature when you onboard a new hire.
7. Watershed
Watershed LRS is a dedicated learning analytics platform that offers comprehensive reporting on all your learning programs.
Designed for learning and development managers, Watershed LRS serves as the system of record for all your learning experience data.
Sometimes it’s good to pick a platform with a narrow focus on one specific task. If that’s what you’re looking for, Watershed LRS is right for you.
8. Valamis
Valamis is an end-to-end learning ecosystem for large enterprises and universities. The company claims to offer the most reliable LRS in the industry.
Like other comprehensive systems, Valamis offers an LXP, LMS, and secure LRS in one toolkit. With full xAPI support, the platform collects and stores the data from a variety of online and offline learning experiences across your learning ecosystem.
Valamis LRS is capable of tracking and aggregating data from a well-known SCORM standard by converting the statuses into xAPI statements.
9. Learning Locker
Learning Locker is the world’s most installed Learning Record Store by Learningpool, a corporate learning and development solution.
The LRS stores and aggregates learning experience data, making it more accessible and useful than ever before. To help you understand the data, the platform provides you with visualization tools, such as graphs, insights, and diagrams.
You can also write business rules that trigger data events when new statements are added to the Learning Record Store. It’s a great way to automate manual work and optimize your training programs on autopilot.
Learning Locker supports both open-source and enterprise options.
10. OnPoint Digital
OnPoint Digital is a vendor of mobile-first learning solutions offering an xAPI and LRS among other technologies.
The software delivers end-to-end learning experiences with the help of mobile, social/game-enabled, AI/ML-driven, and xAPI-extended learning solutions. It combines traditional LMS with next-generation LRS into a set of reporting and analytics.
The OnPoint LRS offers a vast range of customizable dashboards and tools that “slice and dice” learning experience data to help learning and development teams understand the performance of their training programs.
A relatively fresh eLearning technology, an LRS has one major benefit over older systems — it supports tracking across multiple devices and apps. By centralizing all the learning experience data in one place, an LRS will allow you to increase learner engagement and improve your eLearning ROI.
If you are looking to deliver new types of learning in engaging formats such as video, slideshows, and PDFs – all while empowering users to achieve proficiency in record time, implement Whatfix digital adoption platform and deliver personalized, on-demand training at scale.
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