Spence 1

Daniel Spence
UWP 001
3/13/16
Prof. Daniel Melzer
The Internet and College Students
Abstract:
This research paper is meant to bring insight on how the internet affects college students
and their academic capabilities. It is a common belief that young adults of the new generation are
growing more and more reliant on the internet to do functions that, in the past, used to be
considered basic. While it is hard to say what statements on the matter are true or simply
common misconceptions, it is evident that there has been an effect on individuals cognitive,
social and academic behavior. Throughout this paper I will utilize research collected from many
individuals on similar topics and come to a conclusion about what are the effects of internets
growing involvement in college students lives, if any, and are they beneficial or not.
Introduction:
College students are constantly using the internet as a source of socialization,
communication, entertainment, and so much more. The internet has grown so large that even
individuals who wish to stay away from it are being sucked in. Technological advances have
made the internet so large and easy to access that many people have lost sight of how connected
they are to it. We work harder and harder to integrate the internet into our lives and make thing
become easier for us, but, we entirely overlook the problems that are arising because of it. As
Carr states in her scientific article, Does the internet make you Dumber?, Each new technology
strengthens certain neural pathways and weakens others (Carr, 2010) meaning that while we

Spence 2
may get some benefits out of this excessive use of the internet and always being plugged-in, is
this new tool more valuable than what we are loosing in terms of our mental capacity?
Methods:
To conduct my research, I gathered secondary, scholarly sources that spoke on very
similar topics to this research paper. In addition to this, I conducted my own study where I
collected responses from over 100 college student who are either currently enrolled in college or
have recently graduated. For this survey the majority of my participants were from either the
University of California: Davis or the University of California: Los Angeles with the remainder
of the responses coming from other college students across the United States. In this survey I
asked five Yes/No questions pertaining to the students experiences with online college classes,
cheating, and their views on the internets involvement with each.
After my studies results were available I then cross checked my results with facts and arguments
that other researchers had written on.
Results:
Research on the topic of brain capacity and the affects the internet has on learning and
functioning have been conducted many times over the past 30-40 years. Recently, however,
technology has been growing so quickly that the internets capabilities, seemingly unfathomable
or considered science fiction in the 80s, have become every day tools in the modern world.
Moores Law states that the data storage capacity of memory chips will double every two year.
How is this important to technologies effects on college students? With microchips, computers,
and the cloud being able to store, decipher, and dispense information individuals have been
spending less and less time pushing their memory capabilities, and therefore making the human

Spence 3
brain less functional. The richness of our thoughts, our memories and even our personalities
hinges on our ability to focus the mind and sustain concentration (Carr 2010) and without
proper practice and participation in rigorous actives that require us to focus we start to lose so
much more. Even when it comes to spelling and grammar, technology and the internet are
shaping our abilities to learn and to improve. Research done by Gavriel Salomon and David
Perkins concluded that the connection between machine and man help in the productivity of the
user, but not in their ability to learn. A student learning and practicing with a pencil and paper
will be able to visualize and correct their mistakes, but an individual typing on a computer has
their misspellings and errors corrected for them, and are less likely to even know they made a
mistake let along correct it themselves the next time (Salomon et al. 2013).
Education has started to shift from the classic pencil on paper nose in book methods to
having all assignments given and learning conducted over the internet. Radio stations were abuzz
a few years ago when children in some of the St. Paul Public Schools of Minnesota were to be
given iPads that the school appointed to them to help enhance their learning. University classes
around the world have started to assign reading assignments and homework assignments to be
done entirely online. Research performed by Stanford University's Communication Between
Humans and Interactive Media Lab, came to the conclusion that after testing 49 individuals who
did a lot of media multitasking and 52 individuals who do far less media multitasking, the media
multitasks performed far worse than their counterparts and were much more prone to distraction
and wrongful comprehension (Qtd. Carr, 2010). Additionally, with college classes being taught
thorough podcasts without a face-to-face set up or a classroom feel, students are much more
likely to become distracted by social media and other things easily accessible at the tips of their

Spence 4
fingers. Another problem that integration of internet learning has created is the increase in
students accessibility to cheat on coursework and exams. through a research study that I have
conducted by collecting anonymous data from over 100 students at the University of California:
Davis, and the other universities across the United States, 54% of the students who have taken
online courses admit to cheating by googling the answers to online assignments and 49% of
those students openly admit to cheating on examinations for those classes at some point in time.
Students are not only loosing their ability to compete in the real world, but are also loosing their
academic integrity by resorting to the wrong resources so openly available to them.
While the majority of research points towards the negative affects of the internet on up
and coming generations, there are benefits to having such an integrated connection to the
internet. Being able to communicate with individuals across the world through a few key strokes
has helped to stimulate economies and keep families in touch. It also allows for students to easily
access information that may have taken them long hours to research and acquire. Prof.
Greenfield of UCLA, previously Cornell University, states, Our growing use of screen-based
media, has strengthened visual-spatial intelligence (Qtd. Carr, 2010) which means that
individuals who spend a large quantity of hours a day in front of a screen with rapid movement
programs or have a job which requires them to keep track of many signs and signals at the same
time will be more aware of movements around them. This can be beneficial in some
circumstances in the real world and therefore people can argue that there are benefits on the
human brain obtained through use of the internet.
In the case of internet either positively affecting students or negatively affecting them,
research and public opinion points more toward the later. In my survey of over 100 students,

Spence 5
94% believe that cheating is becoming easier as the internet is becoming more accessible. With
that increase in cheating comes a decrease in individuals capabilities to perform and their strive
to even try and learn the information in the first place. Humans go to the internet for almost
everything now. Yet, just because we spend countless hours on the internet does not mean that
we get anything beneficial from it. Studies on Neuroimaging of frequent Internet users shows
twice as much activity in the short term memory as sporadic users during online
tasks (Academic Earth) meaning that our brain is considering the information taken off of the
screen as unimportant and therefore it is far less likely to be remembered long-term. As this
process continues, the more we use Google, the less likely we are to retain what we
see (Academic Earth). If students and individuals are able to retain less information when they
are doing so in a way affiliated with the internet than it should be apparent that their academics
should not be structured solely online. The integration of the internet into education may make
things easier in the short run, but like the memory capabilities of the students participating,
things are destined to start having problems.
Discussion:
Psychologist Doreen Dodgen-Magee states in her article, How is Technology Shaping
Generation Y?, that individuals who spend upwards of ten hours a day plugged in will have less
firing in the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for the kinds of things that make
us adaptable people in the world (Dodgen-Magee, 2010). While many people do not quite
understand what this means, it is not something to be overlooked. The pre-frontal cortex is the
central hub of the brain that not only controls neurological stimulation, but also moderates
emotions and empathy. A decrease in the use of our brains leaves us less intelligent and less

Spence 6
motivated than generations before us. As our brain prunes off parts of itself that are no longer
used, potential brain capacity decreases as a whole. this goes hand in hand with cheating in
school. commenting of the subject of cheating, Doreen Dodgen-Magee states, I think it has
some to do with the fact that we just dont see a need to remember as much because it is going to
be right at our fingertips. Cheating has grown worse and worse in schools everywhere as
technology and the internet become so easily accessible. From laptops to cellphones to watches,
humans have found a way to carry the internet with them everywhere. This has made some
things more easily accessible, but in the cade of how it is affecting college students it is apparent
that it is for the worse.
Conclusion:
Technology has made a lot of things easier to do. Though, this is a problem because more
people are using the technology and internet in ways that are negatively affecting themselves or
others. From cheating to loosing brain stimulation, the internet is a virus that is infecting our
preprogrammed mental software. Research on the direct effects of interacting with the internet
have shown that while individuals sight-response actions may be stronger, in obtaining this new
trait, they have sacrificed many other capabilities. This mental rewiring is a consequences that is
there for the long run. If individuals do not unplug soon, these results will only continue and
humans may grow entirely dependent upon the internet for survival. While over 90% of the
surveyed population agrees that this growing access to the internet allows for us to indirectly
become less intelligent, all of the participants of the survey were introduced to it and took it
online. We say that technology is taking over, yet, we will use it for almost everything. hopefully
we will be able to truly see the negative side of the internet before it is too late to log out.

Spence 7
Work Cited
Academic Earth. How the Internet Is Changing Your Brain." Academic Earth. N.p. 2016. Web.
11 Mar. 2016. <http://academicearth.org/electives/internet-changing-your-brain/>.

!
Carr, Nicholas. "Does The Internet Make You Dumber?" (2010): n. pag. Sochi 2014. 5 June
2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.

!
Dodgen-Magee, Doreen. "How Is Technology Shaping Generation Y?" Biola Magazine. Biola
University, 2010. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

!
Salomon, Gavriel, and David Perkins. "Intelligence and Technology." Google Books. Routledge,
11 Jan. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.