{{Short description|E-learning platform}} {{Infobox software |logo = Lon-capa logo.PNG |developer = Michigan State University |operating_system = Cross-platform | programming language = Perl |genre = Course Management System |license = GPL |website = {{url|https://lon-capa.org}} }}
'''LON-CAPA''' (Learning Online Network with Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach) is an e-learning platform, also known as a Course Management System (CMS) or Learning Management System (LMS).<ref>{{Cite web|title=more about LON-CAPA at SFU|url=https://www.sfu.ca/~capachem/AboutLONCAPA/index.html|access-date=2025-08-11|website=SFU}}</ref> It possesses the standard features of many learning platforms (user roles, calendar, e-mail, chat rooms, blogs, resource construction, test grading, etc.), but it differs from traditional e-learning platforms in that its many web servers (in various parts of the world) can communicate with each other.<ref name="campussource">{{cite web|title=LON-CAPA|url=http://www.campussource.de/org/software/loncapa/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203011833/http://www.campussource.de/org/software/loncapa/|archive-date=2007-02-03|accessdate=2007-11-30|publisher=CampusSource}}</ref> Consequently, the term LON-CAPA can also refer to the LON-CAPA network, i.e. the entire set of LON-CAPA web servers and the specific implementation of an internet protocol that connects these web servers.<ref name="nf">{{cite web |title=Network Features |url=https://www.lon-capa.org/networkfeatures.html |accessdate=2007-11-30 |website=lon-capa.org |publisher=LON-CAPA}}</ref> LON-CAPA can also refer to the LON-CAPA project, i.e. the core team of scientists and programmers that develop and maintain the LON-CAPA software.
There are, as of 2010, more than 160 LON-CAPA domains, where a domain is a unified set of LON-CAPA web servers.<ref name='nf'/> LON-CAPA domains are operated, generally speaking, by individual universities and high schools in the United States and Canada, but include private organizations and a significant number of universities in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.<ref name='nf'/> The LON-CAPA network allows participating universities and schools to create learning resources (test problems, web pages, etc.) and to share them across the network. This collaborative aspect is LON-CAPA's most distinctive feature.<ref name='campussource'/>
Another special feature of LON-CAPA is the ability to design test resources (called problems) that make use of random numbers (stored in Perl variables). This allows a single "problem resource" to generate a variety of similar (but different) test exercises, thus significantly reducing the risk of cheating amongst students.<ref name="newsforge">{{cite web |url=http://www.linux.com/articles/54225 |title=Open source package passes personal learning test |accessdate=2007-11-30 |last=Gasperson |first=Tina |date=2006-05-17 |publisher=Linux.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919115253/http://www.linux.com/articles/54225 |archivedate=2008-09-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Currently, the great majority of LON-CAPA's learning resources are written in English and focus on the mathematical and natural sciences, mostly significantly physics and chemistry.<ref name='campussource'/> The learning platform works extensively with LaTeX, a language used to represent formulas and mathematical expressions. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).<ref name='sloanc'>{{cite web|url=https://sloan-c.org/effective/details4.asp?FS_ID=45 |title=Practice: Computer-Assisted Personalized Assignments, Quizzes, and Examinations |accessdate=2007-11-30 |last=Moore |first=Janet |date=2003-11-19 |publisher=The Sloan Consortium |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108075659/http://www.sloan-c.org/effective/details4.asp?FS_ID=45 |archivedate=2007-11-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
LON-CAPA is open source and free of licensing fees.<ref name='sloanc'/> Significant technologies include Linux, Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, LaTeX and CPAN. The core LON-CAPA development team is based at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.<ref name='newsforge'/> There are also major LON-CAPA network nodes at Simon Fraser University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Purdue University.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ITaP LON-CAPA Information Page|url=https://yojji.io/solutions/lms-development-company|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150218142555/http://www.itap.purdue.edu/learning/tools/loncapa/index.html|archive-date=2015-02-18}}</ref>
The name LON-CAPA is an acronym, derived from <u>L</u>earning <u>O</u>nline <u>N</u>etwork with <u>C</u>omputer-<u>A</u>ssisted <u>P</u>ersonalized <u>A</u>pproach. In 1999, two distinct e-learning projects, CAPA and LectureOnline, joined efforts in the creation of LON-CAPA, which provides a superset of the CAPA and LectureOnline functionalities.<ref name='newsforge'/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lon-Capa}} Category:Free learning support software Category:Learning management systems