EDDE 806 Critical Reflections of the online conference discourse on March 19, 2020 at 18:00 to 20:00 MST.

Overview

The meeting format began with an announcement that speakers were not available but check-ins could include discussion on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) current event. The check-in duration was approximately 52 minutes with Reva hosting the latter portion of the discourse, as prepared by Dr. Bainbridge.

Critical Reflections

I agree with Dr. Bainbridge that opportunities exist for distance education practice to engage with current events, in particular with displaced students from traditional brick and mortar schools. I am skeptical that leadership exists to “seize the day” and educate a nation and global community. History repeats itself with every epidemic, as politics, emotions, and irrationality rule, with truth becoming the first casualty.

The following potpourri of URL’s provide brief information (i.e., URL collection is a sandwich between society and environment), as a cross-hybrid advanced organizer / job aid and backgrounder to further discourse in this post:

• SOCIAL

  • Death of Common Sense - https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2908401W/The_death_of_common_sense

  • Liberal Fascism - https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8052900W/Liberal_fascism

  • Peter Sandman on Risk Communications - https://www.psandman.com/

    • 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“Wuhan Coronavirus”; officially COVID-19) Relevant Articles on this Website -
      http://psandman.com/articles/Wuhan-nCoV-list.htm

    • Superb Flu Pandemic Risk Communication: A Role Model from Australia by Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman -
      http://psandman.com/col/abbott.htm

  • Recognizing Ignaz Semmelweis and Handwashing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=h8OX0FNWANM&feature=emb_logo

    • from March 20, 2020 - Recognizing Ignaz Semmelweis and Handwashing - https://www.google.com/doodles/recognizing-ignaz-semmelweis-and-handwashing

• HISTORY

  • 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history - https://www.livescience.com/worst-epidemics-and-pandemics-in-history.html

  • The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 - https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/

  • 1918 Spanish Flu historical documentary | Swine Flu Pandemic | Deadly plague of 1918 – (duration: 39:35) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDY5COg2P2c

  • How does the coronavirus compare to the Spanish flu? - https://www.france24.com/en/20200320-how-does-the-coronavirus-compare-to-the-spanish-flu

• INFLUENZA

  • WHO - https://www.who.int/influenza/en/

    • Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it -
      https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it

  • Estimating actual COVID 19 cases (novel corona virus infections) in an area based on deaths - (duration: 12:43) -
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCa0JXEwDEk

    • Base on discussion by Tomas Pueyo - Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now - https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

• FRANCE

  • GrippeNet - Devenez acteur de la surveillance de la grippe - https://www.grippenet.fr/fr/

  • Surveillance de la grippe en France, saison 2018-2019 - https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/maladies-et-traumatismes/maladies-et-infections-respiratoires/grippe/documents/article/surveillance-de-la-grippe-en-france-saison-2018-2019

  • France - Coronavirus : suivez la propagation de la pandémie en France et dans le monde - https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2020/02/27/en-carte-visualisez-la-propagation-mondiale-de-l-epidemie-de-coronavirus_6031092_4355770.html

  • Accident de la route en France - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accident_de_la_route_en_France

  • Summer heat killed nearly 1,500 in France, officials say - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49628275

• CANADA

  • SARS: LESSONS FROM TORONTO - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92467/

  • End-of-Life Care in Canada - https://www.cahs-acss.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/End-of-Life-Care-in-Canada.pdf

  • How much does dying cost Canadians? - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/how-much-does-dying-cost-canadians/article554853/

  • Deaths and age-specific mortality rates, by selected grouped causes - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310039201

  • Seasonal Influenza, Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza - https://ipac-canada.org/influenza-resources.php

  • Flu (influenza): For health professionals - https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/flu-influenza/health-professionals.html

  • Smith: Why governments are so afraid of COVID-19 - https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/smith-why-governments-are-so-afraid-of-covid-19/

  • Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) - https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html?utm_campaign=not-applicable&utm_medium=vanity-url&utm_source=canada-ca_coronavirus

  • Wang, B.; Kovalchuk, A.; Li, D.; Ilnytskyy, Y.; Kovalchuk, I.; Kovalchuk, O. In Search of Preventative Strategies: Novel Anti-Inflammatory High-CBD Cannabis Sativa Extracts Modulate ACE2 Expression in COVID-19 Gateway Tissues. Preprints 2020, 2020040315 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202004.0315.v1). -
    https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202004.0315/v1

• Ecology

  • Garrett Hardin - The Tragedy of the Commons - https://science.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243

  • Garret Hardin – Lifeboat Ethics - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeboat_ethics

  • Articles and Essays by Garrett Hardin - https://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/articles.html

• Tony Heller - No Correlation Is Causation - www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgJ8_K6WCiw

A statistic that the medical establishment may not like is that “100% of patients die,” as this statement is a direct criticism of the business of health care. The aforementioned perspective is juxtaposed to the health care mantra of extending life where Canadians spend large sums on end-of-life, as noted in the aforementioned links.

Currently, the politics of risk communications dictates that creating an extreme situation (e.g., total lockdown of human populations) is preferable to doing less than the public outrage fuelled by communication networks, even when the hazard has been demonstrated to have a low risk of mortality relative to other hazards.

History and epistemology are useful to human survival. However, repeating past mistakes demonstrates a gap in education. Modern distance education (DE) can bridge such a learning gap with real-time research and praxis via a digital environment. Hence, on-demand micro certifications, mini workshops, current issue courses, and online partnerships to fill gaps in DE support, offer avenues for educational institutions to participate in real-time DE at local, national, and global levels.

Lesson(s) Learned

Complex problems do not have simple solutions. Society can descend from a democracy to a totalitarian system very easily, as demonstrated by France’s government withholding masks and antiseptic products from the general population and punishing individuals that do not remain insitu. Distance education opportunities need leadership but that was forsaken when mentors and the knowledgeable were eliminated from the education system. Hence, don’t count on your leaders, it is up to educators in the system to “seize the day.”

Postscript

There are many titles that were applicable to this post such as, Have you gone mad? or Death of Commons Sense (already taken), or Just wait for the real one. However, I elected to go with the more educational and pragmatic perspective, Keep Calm And Carry On DE.