diff --git a/examples/basic-tracer-node/index.js b/examples/basic-tracer-node/index.js
index 45888437c21..bd4f3db1db7 100644
--- a/examples/basic-tracer-node/index.js
+++ b/examples/basic-tracer-node/index.js
@@ -37,9 +37,8 @@ exporter.shutdown();
 function doWork(parent) {
   // Start another span. In this example, the main method already started a
   // span, so that'll be the parent span, and this will be a child span.
-  const span = tracer.startSpan('doWork', {
-    parent,
-  });
+  const ctx = opentelemetry.setActiveSpan(opentelemetry.context.active(), parent);
+  const span = tracer.startSpan('doWork', undefined, ctx);
 
   // simulate some random work.
   for (let i = 0; i <= Math.floor(Math.random() * 40000000); i += 1) {
diff --git a/examples/collector-exporter-node/tracing.js b/examples/collector-exporter-node/tracing.js
index cb522c01ee0..0cd39074f34 100644
--- a/examples/collector-exporter-node/tracing.js
+++ b/examples/collector-exporter-node/tracing.js
@@ -39,9 +39,8 @@ setTimeout(() => {
 function doWork(parent) {
   // Start another span. In this example, the main method already started a
   // span, so that'll be the parent span, and this will be a child span.
-  const span = tracer.startSpan('doWork', {
-    parent,
-  });
+  const ctx = opentelemetry.setActiveSpan(opentelemetry.context.active(), parent);
+  const span = tracer.startSpan('doWork', undefined, ctx);
 
   // simulate some random work.
   for (let i = 0; i <= Math.floor(Math.random() * 40000000); i += 1) {
diff --git a/examples/grpc-js/client.js b/examples/grpc-js/client.js
index ee4090260ed..e0e53d0b1b8 100644
--- a/examples/grpc-js/client.js
+++ b/examples/grpc-js/client.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')('example-grpc-client');
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const grpc = require('@grpc/grpc-js');
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ function main() {
   // the span, which is created to track work that happens outside of the
   // request lifecycle entirely.
   const span = tracer.startSpan('client.js:main()');
-  tracer.withSpan(span, () => {
+  api.context.with(api.setActiveSpan(api.context.active(), span), () => {
     console.log('Client traceId ', span.context().traceId);
     const client = new services.GreeterClient(
       `localhost:${PORT}`,
diff --git a/examples/grpc-js/server.js b/examples/grpc-js/server.js
index 1d71833ff1a..3c1aec9e55d 100644
--- a/examples/grpc-js/server.js
+++ b/examples/grpc-js/server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')(('example-grpc-server'));
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const grpc = require('@grpc/grpc-js');
@@ -21,11 +22,10 @@ function startServer() {
 }
 
 function sayHello(call, callback) {
-  const currentSpan = tracer.getCurrentSpan();
+  const currentSpan = api.getActiveSpan(api.context.active());
   // display traceid in the terminal
   console.log(`traceid: ${currentSpan.context().traceId}`);
   const span = tracer.startSpan('server.js:sayHello()', {
-    parent: currentSpan,
     kind: 1, // server
     attributes: { key: 'value' },
   });
diff --git a/examples/grpc/client.js b/examples/grpc/client.js
index 5541113af78..587292f19de 100644
--- a/examples/grpc/client.js
+++ b/examples/grpc/client.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')('example-grpc-client');
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const grpc = require('grpc');
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ function main() {
   // the span, which is created to track work that happens outside of the
   // request lifecycle entirely.
   const span = tracer.startSpan('client.js:main()');
-  tracer.withSpan(span, () => {
+  api.context.with(api.setActiveSpan(api.context.active(), span), () => {
     console.log('Client traceId ', span.context().traceId);
     const client = new services.GreeterClient(
       `localhost:${PORT}`,
diff --git a/examples/grpc/server.js b/examples/grpc/server.js
index 1b9d5331728..0270955e9c9 100644
--- a/examples/grpc/server.js
+++ b/examples/grpc/server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')(('example-grpc-server'));
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const grpc = require('grpc');
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ function startServer() {
 }
 
 function sayHello(call, callback) {
-  const currentSpan = tracer.getCurrentSpan();
+  const currentSpan = api.getActiveSpan(api.context.active());
   // display traceid in the terminal
   console.log(`traceid: ${currentSpan.context().traceId}`);
   const span = tracer.startSpan('server.js:sayHello()', {
diff --git a/examples/http/client.js b/examples/http/client.js
index 5a88497f668..b1ed45993a3 100644
--- a/examples/http/client.js
+++ b/examples/http/client.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')('example-http-client');
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const http = require('http');
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ function makeRequest() {
   // the span, which is created to track work that happens outside of the
   // request lifecycle entirely.
   const span = tracer.startSpan('makeRequest');
-  tracer.withSpan(span, () => {
+  api.context.with(api.setActiveSpan(api.context.active(), span), () => {
     http.get({
       host: 'localhost',
       port: 8080,
diff --git a/examples/http/server.js b/examples/http/server.js
index d142badf83b..7c5f12e5753 100644
--- a/examples/http/server.js
+++ b/examples/http/server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')('example-http-server');
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const http = require('http');
@@ -19,11 +20,10 @@ function startServer(port) {
 
 /** A function which handles requests and send response. */
 function handleRequest(request, response) {
-  const currentSpan = tracer.getCurrentSpan();
+  const currentSpan = api.getActiveSpan(api.context.active());
   // display traceid in the terminal
   console.log(`traceid: ${currentSpan.context().traceId}`);
   const span = tracer.startSpan('handleRequest', {
-    parent: currentSpan,
     kind: 1, // server
     attributes: { key: 'value' },
   });
diff --git a/examples/https/client.js b/examples/https/client.js
index e5b1825163e..4b56bdbe8ca 100644
--- a/examples/https/client.js
+++ b/examples/https/client.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 const tracer = require('./tracer')('example-https-client');
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const https = require('https');
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ function makeRequest() {
   // the span, which is created to track work that happens outside of the
   // request lifecycle entirely.
   const span = tracer.startSpan('makeRequest');
-  tracer.withSpan(span, () => {
+  api.context.with(api.setActiveSpan(api.context.active(), span), () => {
     https.get({
       host: 'localhost',
       port: 443,
diff --git a/examples/https/server.js b/examples/https/server.js
index 105005fea8c..65764e88357 100644
--- a/examples/https/server.js
+++ b/examples/https/server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const api = require('@opentelemetry/api');
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/order
 const tracer = require('./tracer')('example-https-server');
 const fs = require('fs');
@@ -24,11 +25,10 @@ function startServer(port) {
 
 /** A function which handles requests and send response. */
 function handleRequest(request, response) {
-  const currentSpan = tracer.getCurrentSpan();
+  const currentSpan = api.getActiveSpan(api.context.active());
   // display traceid in the terminal
   console.log(`traceid: ${currentSpan.context().traceId}`);
   const span = tracer.startSpan('handleRequest', {
-    parent: currentSpan,
     kind: 1, // server
     attributes: { key: 'value' },
   });
diff --git a/examples/tracer-web/examples/document-load/index.js b/examples/tracer-web/examples/document-load/index.js
index fe72746a5ef..739ac5a53bc 100644
--- a/examples/tracer-web/examples/document-load/index.js
+++ b/examples/tracer-web/examples/document-load/index.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { context, getActiveSpan, setActiveSpan } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { ConsoleSpanExporter, SimpleSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
 import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/web';
 import { DocumentLoad } from '@opentelemetry/plugin-document-load';
@@ -52,31 +53,29 @@ const prepareClickEvent = () => {
     }
 
     const mainSpan = tracer.startSpan('click button');
-    tracer.withSpan(mainSpan, () => {
-      const span1 = tracer.startSpan('files-series-info-1', {
-        parent: tracer.getCurrentSpan(),
-      });
+    context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), mainSpan), () => {
+      const span1 = tracer.startSpan('files-series-info-1');
 
-      const span2 = tracer.startSpan('files-series-info-2', {
-        parent: tracer.getCurrentSpan(),
-      });
+      const span2 = tracer.startSpan('files-series-info-2');
 
-      tracer.withSpan(span1, () => {
+      context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span1), () => {
         getData(url1).then((data) => {
-          console.log('current span is span1', tracer.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+          const curSpan = getActiveSpan(context.active());
+          console.log('current span is span1', curSpan === span1);
           console.log('info from package.json', data.description, data.version);
-          tracer.getCurrentSpan().addEvent('fetching-span1-completed');
+          curSpan.addEvent('fetching-span1-completed');
           span1.end();
           finish();
         });
       });
 
-      tracer.withSpan(span2, () => {
+      context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span2), () => {
         getData(url2).then((data) => {
           setTimeout(() => {
-            console.log('current span is span2', tracer.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+            const curSpan = getActiveSpan(context.active());
+            console.log('current span is span2', curSpan === span2);
             console.log('info from package.json', data.description, data.version);
-            tracer.getCurrentSpan().addEvent('fetching-span2-completed');
+            curSpan.addEvent('fetching-span2-completed');
             span2.end();
             finish();
           }, 100);
diff --git a/examples/tracer-web/examples/fetch/index.js b/examples/tracer-web/examples/fetch/index.js
index 6717136beef..32c923373b7 100644
--- a/examples/tracer-web/examples/fetch/index.js
+++ b/examples/tracer-web/examples/fetch/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+import { context, getActiveSpan, setActiveSpan } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { ConsoleSpanExporter, SimpleSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
 import { CollectorTraceExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-collector';
 import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/web';
@@ -44,22 +45,18 @@ const prepareClickEvent = () => {
   const element = document.getElementById('button1');
 
   const onClick = () => {
-    const singleSpan = webTracerWithZone.startSpan(`files-series-info`, {
-      parent: webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan(),
-    });
-    webTracerWithZone.withSpan(singleSpan, () => {
+    const singleSpan = webTracerWithZone.startSpan(`files-series-info`);
+    context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), singleSpan), () => {
       getData(url).then((_data) => {
-        webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan().addEvent('fetching-single-span-completed');
+        getActiveSpan(context.active()).addEvent('fetching-single-span-completed');
         singleSpan.end();
       });
     });
     for (let i = 0, j = 5; i < j; i += 1) {
-      const span = webTracerWithZone.startSpan(`files-series-info-${i}`, {
-        parent: webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan(),
-      });
-      webTracerWithZone.withSpan(span, () => {
+      const span = webTracerWithZone.startSpan(`files-series-info-${i}`);
+      context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span), () => {
         getData(url).then((_data) => {
-          webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan().addEvent(`fetching-span-${i}-completed`);
+          getActiveSpan(context.active()).addEvent(`fetching-span-${i}-completed`);
           span.end();
         });
       });
diff --git a/examples/tracer-web/examples/xml-http-request/index.js b/examples/tracer-web/examples/xml-http-request/index.js
index 2532037bc99..fd06bc19cc1 100644
--- a/examples/tracer-web/examples/xml-http-request/index.js
+++ b/examples/tracer-web/examples/xml-http-request/index.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { context, getActiveSpan, setActiveSpan } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { ConsoleSpanExporter, SimpleSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
 import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/web';
 import { XMLHttpRequestInstrumentation } from '@opentelemetry/instrumentation-xml-http-request';
@@ -49,15 +50,13 @@ const prepareClickEvent = () => {
 
   const onClick = () => {
     for (let i = 0, j = 5; i < j; i += 1) {
-      const span1 = webTracerWithZone.startSpan(`files-series-info-${i}`, {
-        parent: webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan(),
-      });
-      webTracerWithZone.withSpan(span1, () => {
+      const span1 = webTracerWithZone.startSpan(`files-series-info-${i}`);
+      context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span1), () => {
         getData(url1).then((_data) => {
-          webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan().addEvent('fetching-span1-completed');
+          getActiveSpan(context.active()).addEvent('fetching-span1-completed');
           span1.end();
         }, ()=> {
-          webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan().addEvent('fetching-error');
+          getActiveSpan(context.active()).addEvent('fetching-error');
           span1.end();
         });
       });
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/README.md b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/README.md
index 9314211b8da..db6bdf45d90 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/README.md
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/README.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ npm install --save @opentelemetry/context-zone-peer-dep
 ## Usage
 
 ```js
-import { context } from '@opentelemetry/api';
+import { context, getActiveSpan, setActiveSpan } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { ConsoleSpanExporter, SimpleSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
 import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/web';
 import { ZoneContextManager } from '@opentelemetry/context-zone-peer-dep';
@@ -37,20 +37,20 @@ providerWithZone.register({
 const webTracerWithZone = providerWithZone.getTracer('default');
 const span1 = webTracerWithZone.startSpan('foo1');
 context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span1, () => {
-  console.log('Current span is span1', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+  console.log('Current span is span1', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span1);
   setTimeout(() => {
     const span2 = webTracerWithZone.startSpan('foo2');
-    console.log('Current span is span1', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+    console.log('Current span is span1', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span1);
     context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span2, () => {
-      console.log('Current span is span2', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+      console.log('Current span is span2', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span2);
       setTimeout(() => {
-        console.log('Current span is span2', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+        console.log('Current span is span2', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span2);
       }, 500);
     });
     // there is a timeout which still keeps span2 active
-    console.log('Current span is span2', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+    console.log('Current span is span2', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span2);
   }, 500);
-  console.log('Current span is span1', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+  console.log('Current span is span1', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span1);
 });
 
 ```
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone/README.md b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone/README.md
index 47936479251..bfc06e4f44d 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone/README.md
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone/README.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ npm install --save @opentelemetry/context-zone
 ## Usage
 
 ```js
-import { context } from '@opentelemetry/api';
+import { context, getActiveSpan, setActiveSpan } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { ConsoleSpanExporter, SimpleSpanProcessor } from '@opentelemetry/tracing';
 import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/web';
 import { ZoneContextManager } from '@opentelemetry/context-zone';
@@ -35,20 +35,20 @@ const webTracerWithZone = providerWithZone.getTracer('default');
 const span1 = webTracerWithZone.startSpan('foo1');
 
 context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span1), () => {
-  console.log('Current span is span1', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+  console.log('Current span is span1', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span1);
   setTimeout(() => {
     const span2 = webTracerWithZone.startSpan('foo2');
-    console.log('Current span is span1', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+    console.log('Current span is span1', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span1);
     context.with(setActiveSpan(context.active(), span2), () => {
-      console.log('Current span is span2', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+      console.log('Current span is span2', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span2);
       setTimeout(() => {
-        console.log('Current span is span2', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+        console.log('Current span is span2', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span2);
       }, 500);
     });
     // there is a timeout which still keeps span2 active
-    console.log('Current span is span2', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span2);
+    console.log('Current span is span2', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span2);
   }, 500);
-  console.log('Current span is span1', webTracerWithZone.getCurrentSpan() === span1);
+  console.log('Current span is span1', getActiveSpan(context.active()) === span1);
 });
 
 ```