Letter From the Chief Editor

 Throughout the almost whole year 2020, even the most basic greetings have been banned. We couldn't share our touches of warmth by shaking hands and giving hugs. Staying together in the same place, which was a desirable interaction form as it is a symbol of cooperation and joins, has been strictly restricted for resisting the spread of 'the virus', COVID-19.

 As every social operation was under those conditions, we had to stay separated; even there was still a necessity for cooperative interaction. It loosened some workers' functions, making people feel like they are idle. It went out this social shut-down made people gloomy and even occurred acute depressions. Meanwhile, some parts went too busy and complicated for workers who were well adapted to the 'normal' conditions to keep their paces as they could do before. This overheat has occurred in many cases of burnout.

 As we struggled with those difficulties without dear co-workers' near-around help, each struggle might have seemed like a lone fight. But soon, we found that we were still connected, even while being physically detached. 'The virtual connection, almost an equal replacement for the physical connection.' I guess that is the primary idea of these new-normal days, and so it encompasses all social sectors' issues.

 The 'New-normal', which holds virtual connection as the notion's basis, has been voiced to be adopted in our among-COVID days. We are at the intersection of two prominent flows; a new epidemic - COVID19 - and a new industrial revolution - the 4th industrial revolution. We had assumed that all technological advances would be tools for 'better' productivity until just before the epidemic been among us. But after the pandemic had arisen, we had to look for technological 'survival' to make our lives go on as nearly possible as they were before the virus disaster.

 Under such conditions, we have to consider our two main social characters: educator and citizen. 

 As we are likely to be related to the education field, the most prominent social sector to us and our readers would be education. In the education field, all education parties concerned had to cooperate to overcome the limits of 'Un-tact' educational conditions by adopting remote communication technology to form general 'On-tact' education. 

 Since we have to be the most alerted to educational changes, we are responsible for designing future methods that can be applied to the classrooms. The efforts can be categorized into two – behavioural and functional effort. 

'Educator' is often regarded as a stable job. However, the whole social changes strongly stress that the educator is one of the groups positioned at the edge of social fluctuations. So the consistent effort in a future-oriented manner is highlighted with more significant necessity than before the pandemic made changes of a wide range.

 Now, since we adapted in moderate to the mutation in our working environments, we have to go back to some long presented educational problems, such as equity of education chances and quality - speciality education and general education. The issues are expected to meet new turns for the redesigned educational conditions. 

 As citizens or society members, we should go through other social sectors such as finance. We set two fundamentals of all social issues: politics and businesses, especially of a grand scale, since how they declare and decide usually be the framework for the other social parts.

 We, having double or more social characters, should place the possibilities of conflicts in every decision. The most controversial conflict these days is between public duties for safety and personal freedom. The thing is the highly varied criteria among people, of 'safeness'. 

 We can consider two types of equations of 'safeness' - with physical security and spiritual security. The former one relates to safety & health, and the latter one corresponds to free choices.

 All kinds of conflicts can be completed or suspended by agreement between involved parties, or unfortunately, end up being suppressed by the predominant side. For a better
resolution, we need appropriate minds in terms of humanity. Although it may seem too abstract, the ultimate and essential causes and solutions are all up to universal love. 

 As I mentioned above, we are at the intersection of two significant changes as mixed social characters. We have to admit the changes and make differences in our lives, not stuck on our 'old-normal' things. But, for sure, the old things do not become just meaningless as time goes by. There are always teachings from historical facts. So, the historical method is the essential component of the tools for resolving the things in the current. 

 To bind up my article, I want this sentence to be the last one: We are among changes and challenges, as we were before, and will be in the future.