Student Smith
Professor Jones
ENG-101-D111
10 October 2020
No Skimming Here
There is an old Indian proverb that reads, “Where there is a glut of words, there is a dearth of intelligence” (“Intelligence Proverbs”). Never before
in our history have so many words been collected in one place: the Internet. And these days, it is likely where most reading occurs. Does this rise
in the amount of available information (this “glut of words,” so to speak) mean that intelligence will inevitably decrease? That seems to be the
thinking of Nicholas Carr, who has written a diatribe about the Internet’s negative effects on reading and, therefore, on thinking. In his article, “Is
Google Making Us Stupid?” which was written for The Atlantic, Carr attempts to answer his own question, concluding that, yes, reading online
negatively impacts a reader’s ability to think, thus, contributing to a decline in society’s collective intelligence. However, Carr neglects to consider
those who might benefit intellectually from this onslaught of information now available at the stroke of a key. He skips right over a segment of
society who are important indicators of collective intelligence by the way they read, learn, study, and, therefore, think. Namely, what Carr fails to do
is examine how the internet has positively impacted college students by improving the postsecondary enrollment rate, by creating a more
affordable college option, and by fostering autonomy that will carry over into life after school.
Carr’s article begins as a confession of sorts. He highlights the fact that he is sure his current reading habits, primarily conducted online for the
last decade, are changing his brain. He “can feel it most strongly when [he is] reading” (Carr 425). Where once he could immerse himself deeply
in a book, lost in the “long stretches of prose,” Carr now finds himself zipping
“along the surface” of his reading “like a guy on a Jet Ski” (426). He discusses how there is a natural mistrust of new technology—from the
invention of the clock to the invention of the printing press, people have feared what innovations might mean for individuals and for society as a
whole. Carr even admits that one day he could be proven as wrong as opponents of the written word, the printing press, and the telephone. Yet,
ultimately, he clings to his belief that if we lose those “quiet places” provided by book reading and, instead, “fill them up with ‘content,’ we will
sacrifice something important not only in our selves but in our culture” (438). He does have a point. As a culture, we have become reliant on the
instant availability of massive quantities of information from sources whose reliability is questionable at best. Many online readers find themselves
skimming Facebook only to find subjective political posts, or searching Google for the latest stats and advice on COVID-19 without really reading
the full content or challenging any of it, and it is certainly concerning. We have become a culture divided, and perhaps the algorithms used by Web
bigwigs like Google and Facebook are to blame as Carr suggests. In fact, much of what Carr points out as the flaws of reading primarily online
may be true for the casual reader, but to stop examining the issue where he does, Carr is essentially attacking the whole of the Web based on the
casual reader’s habits and activities there. In other words, not only does Carr’s online reading merely skim the surface “like a guy on a Jet Ski,” his
writing about the experience does, too. Aside from the arguably negative effects of the internet on former book readers, Carr never answers the
question: What about all the other classes of readers?
Examining the Internet’s effects on college students is as good a place as any to start righting this wrong. According to the Statisica.com website,
college enrollment in the United States has steadily risen over the past four decades by around .6% on average (“Percentage”). Admittedly, this
steady incline since the 1970s cannot be directly attributed to the onset of online
learning, since it covers a period that includes years where said change had not yet occurred. However, one anomaly in the collected data could
be seen as a direct result of the increased availability of online college programs; around 2005, the percentage of people attending college in the
U.S. shot up by over two percentage points (as opposed to the average of .6% increases). Additionally, during every year since this sudden jump
in enrollment, the percent increase each year has grown, meaning that what was once a steady increase has become a rapidly growing increase
since 2005 (“Percentage”). Comparatively, the total number of U.S. students enrolled in at least one online course grew from just over 3.5 million
to just over 4.5 million between the years of 2005 and 2009 alone, a more than 50% increase (“The History”). It is likely no coincidence that this
jump in enrollment in general directly correlates with the dramatic increase in available online college programs and enrollment around this same
time.
It is also likely that the boost to U.S. college enrollment in general that occurred around 2005 is thanks, at least in part, to the leaps made by two
demographic groups. Specifically, more women and people of color are attending college than ever before. In 2014, women bypassed men in
college enrollment for the first time in recent history; 32% of women in the U.S. were enrolled in higher education programs versus an enrollment
rate of 31.9% for men in the U.S. (“Percentage”). The gap has steadily increased, with the 2019 numbers at 36.6% of women and 35.4% of men
attending college (“Percentage”). Additionally, the fact that 60% of online college students are women would certainly corroborate the theory that
more women are attending college, at least in part, due to the Internet as a means to do so (“The History”). Similarly, more minority students are
enrolling in United States colleges since the birth of online college programs. A yearly study called “The Condition of Education” is conducted by
The National Center for Education Statistics (or NCES) to provide insight to the public regarding the state of the country’s educational system and
institutions. In the current report, “The Condition
of Education 2020,” a graph shows that between 2010 and 2018, the percentage of black students enrolled in college has increased by 6%,
students of mixed race (those of two or more races) by 6%, Asian students by 3%, and Hispanic students by a whopping 14% (“College
Enrollment Rates” 2). Why do these statistics matter? Single-parent homes (usually headed by women, often headed by women of color) and
minority families typically make up a proportionately larger percentage of the lower-income population. In other words, enrollment spikes of this
magnitude for these two demographic groups in particular point to one important change: a lower cost to participate in higher education.
Thanks to the flexibility and affordability of online college programs, a greater number of low-income families are finding higher education within
their means, both in terms of fitting it into their schedules and into their budgets. According to college expenses expert Ed Vosganian, founder and
CEO of the site College Funding 123, not only is the tuition cost lower for an online program, but several related costs deflate as compared to an
on-campus education. Vosganian uses an anonymous state school in Florida as an example, noting that the school’s annual tuition and fees are
lower by around $12 thousand, but also that other significant savings apply. Students save an approximate $54 hundred in housing expenses, $33
hundred in food costs, and between $5 hundred dollars and $11 hundred dollars in transportation costs, depending on whether public
transportation fees or gas costs are considered (Vosganian). This means that students attending Vosganian’s example school save approximately
$10 thousand per year in other expenses on top of a $12 thousand per year reduction in tuition expenses for a total of $22 thousand saved
annually. This is a significant factor for lower-income households to consider when contemplating enrollment in a college program. Then, add in
the flexibility of course schedules as a feature of most online college programs and working adults of lower income have little choice but to
consider the Internet their friend in higher education. Surely, under this lens,