Argumentative Essay On 'Millennials' By Mark Bauerlein

When it comes to the topic of online learning, most of us will readily agree that technology can be an incredible learning tool in this new Digital Age. Where this usually ends, however, is on the question of whether or not technology is helping or hindering the learning of students and young adults. Whereas some are convinced that technology will help students by supplying them with knowledge and vast amounts of resources, others maintain that technology is corrupting our youth and making us stupid. One such person who believes the latter is Mark Bauerlein.
For my argumentative essay topic, I will be exploring Mark Bauerlein’s claim that despite the fact that there is an abundance of information and learning tips at their fingertips via the
He states that, “…it’s all there, the great books, masterpieces, old maps, encyclopedia entries, world newspapers, science facts, and historical events. But that’s not where the kids go” (Bauerlein 134). He also ventures to say that, “…young Americans prefer to learn about one another” (Bauerlein 135), meaning that young people would rather learn about the party that happened last week over how Alexander the Great conquered almost the entire known world. His theory shows the utter lack of knowledge about young people, as from my personal experience, I have often used the Internet to research and learn about certain topics. The Internet is a conduit for
One person who disagrees with Bauerlein’s claim includes Professor Gary Small of Aging at the David School of Medicine at ULCA. Small says that, “…altering our neural networks through activities such as email, video games, Google…or other technological experiences does sharpen some cognitive abilities” (qtd. in Bauerlein 95). He shows that the Internet actually helps young people to improve their cognitive skills and it helps them to learn. The Internet is actually helping learning and young people, contrary to Bauerlein’s