An e-Learning Model for Teaching Mathematics on an Open Source Learning Platform

Throughout the world, mathematics plays a vital role for the educational and developmental aspirations of any country. The quest to teach mathematical knowledge in a viable and effective way so as to induce creativity and applicability among learners is an ongoing challenge, especially for developing countries. A better understanding of how students learn mathematics coupled with effective application of mathematical e-learning can enhance meaningful learning of mathematics and make the subject more exciting. In this note, we introduce a mathematical e-learning model suitable for the modern digital era based on the learning theories of social constructivism, social realism, and connectivity. We then discuss the feasibility of implementing the model on an open source e-learning platform. Our findings reveal that the platform offers a developer’s tool for coding and customizing templates to attain higher levels of usage and interactivity in which learners can create and control learning objects while they observe the results

Exploring Mortality Rates for Major Causes of Death in Korea

Background: The trends and patterns of the mortality rates for causes of death are meaningful information. They can provide a basis for national demographic and health care policies by identifying the number, causes, and geographical distribution of deaths. Objective: To explore and analyze the characteristics of the mortality rates for major causes of death in Korea. Methods: Some common data analysis methods were used to describe the data. We also used some visualization techniques such as heat maps and line plots to present mortality rates by gender, age, and year. Results: Our analysis shows the crude mortality rates have continually decreased over the last 25 years from 1983, though they have increased slightly since 2006. In addition, the top eight causes of death accounted for 80% of all Korean deaths in 2015. During the period 2005-2015, the leading cause of death was cancer in male and circulatory diseases in female. The trend for respiratory diseases shows a steep upward trend in males, while a similar trend can be observed for respiratory and nervous system diseases in females. Conclusion: The deaths for circulatory, respiratory, nervous system, digestive, and infectious diseases are the highest in the age 80 to 84, while cancer is the leading cause of death for ages 75 to 79. In addition, the mortality rates for circulatory, nervous, and respiratory dis-eases increase rapidly after the age of 80. Therefore, policies on health and welfare for the elderly are getting more and more important