<s>
LON-CAPA	B-Application
(	O
Learning	O
Online	O
Network	O
with	O
Computer-Assisted	O
Personalized	O
Approach	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
e-learning	O
platform	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
Course	B-Protocol
Management	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
CMS	O
)	O
or	O
Learning	B-Application
Management	I-Application
System	I-Application
(	O
LMS	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
possesses	O
the	O
standard	O
features	O
of	O
many	O
learning	B-Protocol
platforms	I-Protocol
(	O
user	O
roles	O
,	O
calendar	B-Application
,	O
e-mail	O
,	O
chat	O
rooms	O
,	O
blogs	O
,	O
resource	O
construction	O
,	O
test	O
grading	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
)	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
differs	O
from	O
traditional	O
e-learning	O
platforms	O
in	O
that	O
its	O
many	O
web	B-Application
servers	I-Application
(	O
in	O
various	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
)	O
can	O
communicate	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consequently	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
can	O
also	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
network	O
,	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
the	O
entire	O
set	O
of	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
web	B-Application
servers	I-Application
and	O
the	O
specific	O
implementation	O
of	O
an	O
internet	O
protocol	O
that	O
connects	O
these	O
web	B-Application
servers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
LON-CAPA	B-Application
can	O
also	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
project	O
,	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
the	O
core	O
team	O
of	O
scientists	O
and	O
programmers	O
that	O
develop	O
and	O
maintain	O
the	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
software	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
2010	O
,	O
more	O
than	O
160	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
domains	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
domain	O
is	O
a	O
unified	O
set	O
of	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
web	B-Application
servers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
LON-CAPA	B-Application
domains	O
are	O
operated	O
,	O
generally	O
speaking	O
,	O
by	O
individual	O
universities	O
and	O
high	O
schools	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
and	O
Canada	O
,	O
but	O
include	O
private	O
organizations	O
and	O
a	O
significant	O
number	O
of	O
universities	O
in	O
Europe	O
,	O
Asia	O
,	O
South	O
America	O
and	O
Africa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
network	O
allows	O
participating	O
universities	O
and	O
schools	O
to	O
create	O
learning	O
resources	O
(	O
test	O
problems	O
,	O
web	O
pages	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
collaborative	O
aspect	O
is	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
'	O
s	O
most	O
distinctive	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
special	O
feature	O
of	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
is	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
design	O
test	O
resources	O
(	O
called	O
problems	O
)	O
that	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
random	O
numbers	O
(	O
stored	O
in	O
Perl	B-Language
variables	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
the	O
great	O
majority	O
of	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
'	O
s	O
learning	O
resources	O
are	O
written	O
in	O
English	O
and	O
focus	O
on	O
the	O
mathematical	O
and	O
natural	O
sciences	O
,	O
mostly	O
significantly	O
physics	O
and	O
chemistry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
learning	B-Protocol
platform	I-Protocol
works	O
extensively	O
with	O
LaTeX	B-Application
,	O
a	O
language	O
used	O
to	O
represent	O
formulas	O
and	O
mathematical	O
expressions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LON-CAPA	B-Application
is	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
and	O
free	O
of	O
licensing	O
fees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Significant	O
technologies	O
include	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
Apache	B-Application
,	O
mod_perl	O
,	O
MySQL	B-Application
,	O
LaTeX	B-Application
and	O
CPAN	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
core	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
development	O
team	O
is	O
based	O
at	O
Michigan	B-Device
State	O
University	O
in	O
East	O
Lansing	O
,	O
Michigan	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
major	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
network	B-Protocol
nodes	I-Protocol
at	O
Simon	O
Fraser	O
University	O
,	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Illinois	O
at	O
Urbana-Champaign	O
,	O
and	O
Purdue	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
is	O
an	O
acronym	O
,	O
derived	O
from	O
Learning	O
Online	O
Network	O
with	O
Computer-Assisted	O
Personalized	O
Approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
two	O
distinct	O
e-learning	O
projects	O
,	O
CAPA	O
and	O
LectureOnline	O
,	O
joined	O
efforts	O
in	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
LON-CAPA	B-Application
,	O
which	O
provides	O
a	O
superset	O
of	O
the	O
CAPA	O
and	O
LectureOnline	O
functionalities	O
.	O
</s>
