Internet's Impact on Brain Function

This assignment analyzes an article discussing the influence of internet dependence on brain function. It examines how reliance on the internet for tasks has shortened attention spans and memory, impacting learning and education. The article highlights research findings demonstrating that online reading often involves skimming for quick information, leading to a loss of in-depth comprehension compared to traditional paper materials. It also explores the concept of cognitive offloading and its implications for brain function due to increased reliance on technology. Students are encouraged to reflect on the future of education curriculum in light of this growing dependence on the internet.

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this assignment,
please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this
assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not use your
own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file, inserting your
responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the formatting
of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number

Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below. There is a
table to complete for each task. Please fill in the information required.
Note: Each resource summary should be around 200-300 words.
Week 1
The text discusses the elements of modern computing architecture however is largely silent on the
individuals who played a role in its development. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE
such individual. The individual should have had a significant influence on the development of
computers and/or components of modern computing architecture.
Haldas, M 2017, ‘Alan Turing: The Father of Modern Computer Science
,2017, Viewed 28 Sep. 17 https://www.cctvcamerapros.com/Alan-Turing-Computer-Science-s/369.htm
This article describes Alan Turing who is significant to the development of the
modern computer architecture. I chose this article for it examines the elements of the
computing architecture and Alan’s contribution. He is well known of his inventions in
the field of computer science which are remarkable up to date. One of the main
contributions by Alan Turing is the Artificial Intelligence. The central question was
whether the computer could think. The machines here were able to imitate the human
character in decision-making, recognizing speeches, solving problems and even visual
perception. Up to date, artificial intelligence is what enables the computers to perform
complex tasks.
Turing during his inventions came up with the Universal Turing Machine which was
able to decode and perform instructions given to it. It also defined the early days

computing and the current day programming, the first invention of the artificial
intelligence adding up to the modern development in the field of computers. Through
this, the electronic computer was invented to run any program, which is the general
purpose computer.
During the 2nd World War, he also came up with the system of encrypting and
decrypting any telephone conversations. During this time, he developed The Bomb
device. It was intended to replicate Enigma machines’ motions. This read several
messages of German Navy that were encrypted and helped the British government to
be powerful in 2nd world war.
Turing played a major role in the first digital computer called the Automatic
Computing Engine which the National Physical Laboratory approved in 1946. This
computer was the first to store programs in its memory and the fastest by that time.
Through the Automatic Computing Engine, computers like DEUCE, Bendix G15, and
the MOSAIC were derived from the design of Turing’s ACE.
This article is essential because it focuses on all the inventions Alan Turing came up
with as well as explaining further how they contributed to the modern computers
development. It also compares his inventions with those he competed with and his
exemplary efforts to come up with his research.
Week 2
The text discusses the components and activities of operating systems however is largely silent on the
individuals who played a role in their development. Find and summarise a resource that describes
ONE such individual. The individual should have had a significant influence on the writing or

development of operating systems.
Marsh, J 2017, ‘Linux History: Who is Linus Torvalds?’,September 2017, Viewed 28 Sep. 17.
https://www.storagecraft.com/blog/linux-history-linus-torvalds/
This blog examines the OS system in its entirety from the perspectives of its
components and activities and the sole contributor; Linus Torvalds who was born in
Finland and migrated later to The United States, hence the reason why I chose it. He
is well known for his development of the first open-source operating system kernel
called the Linux. It started developing in 1991, and just as the name suggests, being
an open source operating system, has continued to grow up to date due to contribution
from other programmers. Before coming up with this project, Linus was trying to fix
the MINIX operating system dislikes. He posted his work to be viewed by people to
get feedback from them. That very year, he came up with the Linux .011.
His idea of developing an open source operating system to allow other developers free
access made the Linux kernel advance more. They were able to make necessary
modifications to improve on the one available. As a result, it developed to be better to
users hence user-friendly, and this was a big blow to Windows operating system
which was so common in most personal computers, for it was is the most major
competitor. From the main Linux kernel, many other versions have been developed
from it. Red Hat made it much easier for Linus to perform best the same inventions
and he thus gained more fame and promoting his operating system.
Apart from the Linux Operating system, Linus came up with Gif software which
helps developers to control and manage versions as well as stable and best versions to
the end users. It also helps developers to merge various versions of their software.
This blog was of great use. Apart from explaining more on Linus’ development of the

Linux Operating System, it also identified the other software called Gif which is
essential in the field of computers more so to those developing programs.

Week 3
The Internet didn’t just appear – it was an evolution from earlier networks. Find and summarise a
resource that describes ONE of the networks that led to the development of the modern Internet.
Nix, E 2016, ‘The World’s First Web Site’ History, August 2016, Viewed 28 Sep. 17
http://www.history.com/news/the-worlds-first-web-site
This article examines the contribution of the invention of the first network in the
world to the modern internet. I preferred this article because it describes the invention
of a significant network that is attributed to almost everything that concerns the
development of the modern internet. Also, it examines the man behind the invention;
Tim Berners, a British Computer Scientist.
The author first recognizes the mind behind the invention that has made the world a
global village. In the 1980s while working at CERN, Berners noticed how difficult it
was to try to track all the employees’ projects and computer systems that were spread
worldwide. Also, he had to access specific information on specific computers. Nine
years later, Berners Lee proposed the management of CERN which was intended to
use the hypertext to connect files in different computers to the internet. But the
administration discredited only to later accept the proposal in 1990.
In the same year, Berners-Lee came up with significant technologies such as the
Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and the
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for creation of web pages, for guidelines on the
data transfer across the web and for locating a page on the web respectively. The

prime time came when Berners-Lee officially published the first ever website in 1991
alongside the detail descriptions of the web and guidelines on how to use it.
The most memorable event in the modern internet is the reason why we have free
access to the Web technology. Mr. Berners-Lee intended to connect the whole world.
Thus he declined the offer by his employer to patent the Web technology because his
desire was the web to be freely accessible so that it can spread as fast as possible,
which indeed it has. Thanks to his intentions!
This post was crucial because it takes us back to the foundations of the current
internet and the selfless mind behind it. Maybe such selfless innovative minds are
needed today for future advancement of the internet.
Week 4
Ethernet is an example of a Layer Two (L2) data link protocol that is discussed in the text. Find and
summarise a resource that describes the features and uses of ONE other L2 protocol that is not
discussed in the text (i.e. NOT Ethernet).
Rouse, M 2007, ‘FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)’ Tech Target, April 2007, Viewed 28 Sep. 17
http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/FDDI
This article describes the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) as an example of
the L2 Data Link Protocol, its features, and use. This article was my choice of
preference because it describes the FDDI, its features, usage, and developers.
The FDDI is a collection of ANSI and ISO principles for the transmission of data

through the fiber optic lines in the platform of the local area network (LAN) which
can be conveyed over a range of 200 kilometers. It works on the principle of the token
ring protocol and can be used by thousands. Additionally, it is mostly used in setups
of the wide area network (WAN).
The interesting feature is that the FDDI network has double token rings with a
capacity of the primary ring being 100Mbps, and the extra one is for backup in the
event of failure of the main ring. Furthermore, the secondary ring can still hold up to
200Mbps in case it’s not required for backup. Doubling rings can cover up to 100km
whereas the single ring can cover the maximum distance.
The American National Standards Committee X3-T9 is the right producer of the
FDDI, and it adheres to the strict standards of the Open Systems Interconnection
Model of operational layering. Additionally, it’s the new version of Fiber Distributed
Data Interface 1 that is the FDDI-II has the characteristic feature of handling the
voice signals thanks to its circuit-switched service.
This article was of high significance to me because it highlights the FDDI as the
perfect example of the L2 data link protocol, its standard features, and uses.
Moreover, it describes its current capabilities and the possible room for expansion in
the future. For instance, the likelihood of creating connections between the FDDI
networks and the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network)
Week 5

The text mentions the role of hackers in attacks on networked infrastructure. Find and summarise a
resource that describes ONE famous or well-known hacker.
The Week Staff, 2010, ‘WikiLeaks: Who is hacker 'hero' Adrian Lamo?’ The Week, June 2010,
Viewed 28 Sep. 17 http://theweek.com/articles/493515/wikileaks-who-hacker-hero-adrian-lamo
This article describes how Adrian Lamo attacked The New York Times, Yahoo, and
Google in addition to how he managed to hack these developed network structures
and the tipping off of the FBI on Manning, the Army Intelligence officer. I preferred
this article because it examines how the world developed network structures were
hacked by a 29-year-old Adrian Lamo just for curiosity and further offering them
advice on the vulnerability of their security systems.
In this article, the author highlights how Lamo became the most famous hacker by
hacking Google, New York Times and the MCI Worldcom and his reasons for the
hacking. Lamo first came into the limelight in 2001 when he hacked the Exite@Home
most secured network. Furthermore, he also breached the Yahoo, Google and MCI
WorldCom networks.
A fascinating bit is that after hacking these most secured networks, he went ahead and
informed the organizations’ security systems of their vulnerabilities and assisted them
to amend the loopholes without pay. As if this did not make him famous enough, the
hacking of the New York Times was a time bomb.
The author further explains how he was able to accomplish the hacking without being
notified over a long period. Lamo is commonly referred to as the “homeless hacker”
because he used to conduct his hacking in coffee houses, bus stations, squatting in an
abandoned structures to hack the security systems of the companies such as The New
York Times. He then accessed the profiles of over 3000 contributors of the site plus

the former president Jimmy Carter. He was charged with fraud and agreed with the
prosecutors and received twenty-four weeks of house arrest.
This article was useful because it described how Lamo attacked the networked
infrastructures and his reasons for hacking and how he was able to pass by the
security systems without being noticed.

Week 6
Society is increasingly reliant on networks and network technologies but they are evolving at a rapid
pace. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of a future networking technology
or trend that will impact society.
Chang, J., & Samarxhiu, A 2014, ‘The future of wireless: 5G, small cell networks, and the impact
on society’ Control Engineering, September 2014, Viewed 28 Sep. 17
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/the-future-of-wireless-5g-small-cell-networks-and-the-
impact-on-society/536d3f8fd7f8109cab40694fa521b9cb.html
This article is about the trend of the wireless technology and how the future 5G
network is likely to affect the society. I chose this article because it explains the
probable future of the small networks and 5G based on pure research and how it is
expected to affect the society.
The author describes how Dr. Lan was able to foresee the future of data networks
based on the current trend. With the increasing of network devices which are likely to
supersede the human population, data networks are likely to crash if they continue to
remain in the same state. By 2020 the capability of wireless networks will be 20
gigabits per second or individuals will be consuming 20 Exabytes each month.
Perhaps the interesting thing in the article is that it is the consumer needs that are
determining the demand in developing countries, but in developed countries, it is the
modern internet that is pushing for the data demand. The author further asserts that
advancement in communications improves the workability of machines and thus the
manufacturers are in the wake of staying competitive. Thus the society is slowly
being shifted from making connections between humans to making the connection

between machines.
However, the setback for this huge demand of data is that people are no longer patient
and thus will not withstand something that doesn’t keep up with their emotions. For
instance, in gaming where there are trends of developing virtual games that respond
much faster than human beings to keep up with the intolerance spirit of users. Also,
the introduction of humanoid robots which can be used in healthcare to address sick
patients without having the human doctors attaching themselves with the sick thus
avoiding contamination from contagious diseases.
I found this post useful because it describes the increasing trends of the usage and
dependence on the network technology even in professions. This excited me on how
the future will be when we do not need traffic light because of autonomous cars. It is
unbelievable!
Week 7
The text mentions social business and the impact of the use of social networking platforms. Find and
summarise a resource that describes the history of the development of ONE such social media
platform.
Vasquez, R., A 2014, ‘A Visual History of Facebook Advertising’ Socialbakers, May 2015, Viewed 28
Sep. 17 https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/2172-a-visual-history-of-facebook-advertising
This article explains the evolution of Facebook in advertising. This post was my
preference because it highlights the humble beginnings of Facebook use at the college
level to a time when over one billion users in different countries.
The author describes how Facebook was initially used for basic promotion of college
events and the respective years of its growth in the world of business advertising. The

first experiments of Facebook advertising were in 2004 with flyers and flyers pro in
which they promoted the social activities within the colleges, and the students could
decide the much they could pay for giving ads. One year later, it got sponsors who
improved its revenue and offset the costs. Then by 2006, Facebook expanded its limit
and was out of campuses, and the inclusion of Microsoft as the only provider of links
such as news feed and share features further boosted its revenue. Within the next
three consecutive years, Facebook made tremendous improvements in the
advertisement world. For example, it launched its platform for Facebook ads, went
mobile and introduced pages in which individuals and organizations could create
Facebook pages.
By the year 2009, it advanced its targeting by improvising ways of using particular
data and methods to target specific audiences. In 2010, Facebook further introduced
the like feature which was accessible to external sites and thus drew more focus on
customers to specific products or images. The release of a bonafide mobile app made
Facebook a worldwide platform because most of the people could at least access cell
phones and internet even in developing countries. By 2013, the platform was able to
add sponsored stories, Facebook exchange and even customers audiences and
additional ad types leading to over one billion users of Facebook.
This article was useful because it does not only provide detailed development of
Facebook platform in the advertisement but also amazed me how it could group the
target customers by geographical location, sex, age, etc., a feature fundamental in
advertising.
Week 8
With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come data mining. Find and summarise a

resource that describes ONE example where data mining has been used successfully by a business.
You should not use any examples covered in the textbook.
Hill, K 2012, ‘How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did’ Forbes,
February 2012, Viewed 28 Sep. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-
figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/#7e08c2e26668
This post by Kashmir Hill describes how Target employed the use of data mining by
the use of the shopping trend of the customers to predict whether they were pregnant
or not and thus send them advertising emails on items related to expectant women. I
preferred this article because it does not only explain how supermarkets make use of
data mining but also gives a practical scenario of how Pole, Target’s statistician was
able to predict the pregnancy of a teenager girl before the father knew of it.
In this article, Kashmir explains how the supermarkets can track the consumption
patterns of their customers to figure out their preferences, needs and then use the
gathered data to determine the best coupons for each customer based on the shopping.
An example is how Target can figure out that a customer is expectant and the
approximate delivery day and thus send promotional messages of items such as
diapers.
Every Customer of Target is assigned a specific ID number, which is linked to their
credit card, email, and all other profile details. This stores all the purchase history and
demographic data of the customers. A case in study is when Pole gathered the
purchase history of all ladies who had registered for the Target baby, and he analyzed
the data and noted a consistent shift in the pattern of shopped items such as the
purchase of large quantities of unscented lotion instead of the scented one. Thus
Target was able to identify specific products and assigned every customer that bought
them a pregnancy prediction.

This article was of significance to me because it did highlight not only the importance
of data mining in business success but also gave a practical example of how Target
was able to predict an expectant teenager and sent her advertisement emails of
nappies. The agitated father on seeing the adverts complained only to apologize later
when he found that his daughter was indeed expectant

Week 9
One of the greatest success stories in application development in recent times has been the popularity
of mobile apps. Find and summarise a resource that describes the story of ONE successful mobile app
developer.
Ahmed, T 2015, ‘How Tasnim Ahmed Went From Jobless to Making $100K With Apps’ blue
cloud solutions, August 2015, Viewed 28 Sep. 17 https://www.bluecloudsolutions.com/blog/making-
100k-with-apps/
This blog is about Tasnim Ahmed and how we began from being jobless to earning
over $100,000 with making apps. I chose this blog because it pinpoints one successful
app developer right from scratch in addition to his advice on how one can become an
esteemed app developer.
The blog summarizes the background of Tasnim Ahmed right from the year 2012
when he resigned as an iOS developer because he was determined to start his own
business and with the right encouragement from his older brothers. He began by
researching how to promote apps and the information he got changed his thinking and
within the first six months after resignation he published one app.
In addition to the publication, Ahmed developed his first app known as Smash Santa
which also sold out very well. But still not satisfied with results, he focused on market
research, and after learning reskinning, he improved his skills on designing the app
icon, screenshots, and keywords. This decision was a milestone in his app
development experience for out of it he came up with the Christmas Photo Booth,
Numerous and Flappy Bird which paid him off very well. By the year 2014, Ahmed
had made over $100,000.
The most interesting part of his story of web development is that he appreciates and

remembers that he depended on the support of other people and experts to ascend the
ladder. Furthermore, he suggests six ways of climbing the ladder web developer
success to those interested or who are not confident.
This article was useful to me because of how it highlights the whole story of Ahmed;
a renowned successful app developer in addition to his suggestions on how one can
easily make apps without having to invest a lot of money or pay for the training. He
also lists websites that can assist like-minded people to make apps through personal
research, just like him.
Week 10
While information systems and technology deliver many benefits to society, they can also result in
(sometimes inadvertent) negative effects and outcomes. Find and summarise a resource that describes
ONE example of where the use of an information system or technology has led to negative
consequences for humans.
Perry, P 2016, ‘Cognitive Offloading: How the Internet Is Changing the Human Brain’ bigthink, 2016,
Viewed 28 Sep. 17, http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/cognitive-offloading-how-the-internet-is-
changing-the-human-brain
This article describes how the internet is changing the brain from the perspective of
dependence upon the internet to carry out the brain functions. I chose this article
because it specifically investigates one aspect of information technology: the internet.
In the article, the author describes how the internet has affected the standard or
traditional brain functionality. The reliance upon the internet on almost everything
including simple tasks has shortened the attention span and memory thus generally
affecting learning and education. People use internet technology when they think that
it is much superior to the capability of their brains. The author argues based on

research that reading online is more of skimming and the desire for quick information
thus end up missing the in-depth message as opposed to reading paper materials.
The author gives an illustration of a researcher who sampled a group of students and
issued out trivia questions and was both allowed to use their phones to Google
answers. In the second attempt, both groups of students were served with simple
problems and same accessibility to the internet. The group that was first to reach for
their gadgets and Google for the answers were not able to answer even simple
questions without searching the internet. While those that depended on their memory
were quick to answer even the difficult questions.
Additionally, cognitive offloading is affected by the dependence of internet usage.
For me, this article was significant because it did not only address the increasing harm
of the internet on the brain about its functions but also made think how the school
curriculum will be in the future with the growing dependence on the internet and
revision of the curriculum to align it with technology advancement.

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
Criteria
0 No Response
<=1 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the task;
summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the relevance and/or
usefulness of the resource has not been explained.
<=2 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is
adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has been explained to some extent, but
needs additional information.
<=3 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the
resource is probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet concise;
the relevance and usefulness of the resource selection has been clearly
explained.
Key
Deductions
-3
-2
-1
Reference/URL provided does not link to resource (and resource cannot be
located or determined from details provided) OR
Reference/URL provided does not relate to the summary (i.e. summary is
not of resource content / contains content not contained in the resource)
Resource is generic AND/OR covers multiple technologies/examples rather
than focuses on a single technology/example
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Week Marks Awarded

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
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