Argumentative Essay

ASSIGNMENT: Write a 4-6 page (approximately 1000-1500 word) argumentative essay using the classical model supported by evidence and research.

Sample Argumentative Essay

A. Instructions

Remember the word “argument” does not mean a fight in a writing context. An academic argument is more like a thoughtful conversation between two people with differing viewpoints on a debatable issue. However, you are required to take a position on one side of the issue.
In order to foster learning and growth, all essays you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any recycled work will be sent back with a 0, and you will be given one attempt to redo the touchstone.

Your submission must include an APA style reference page following the essay. In your research, you will need 2-4 credible primary or secondary sources to use as support in your essay.

On a separate page, below your reference page, include thoughtful answers to the Think About Your Writing questions. References and Think About Your Writing questions are NOT included in the word count for this essay.

B. Think About Your Writing

Below your reference page, include answers to all of the following reflection questions.

1. What have you learned about how to present a strong argument? How could/will you apply this knowledge in your professional or everyday life (3-4 sentences)? 

2. Consider the English Composition I course as a whole. What have you learned about yourself as a writer (5-6 sentences)? 

C. Argumentative Essay Guidelines

Refer to the checklist below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your research essay until it meets these guidelines. 

Print this checklist!

Argumentative Topic and Thesis Statement

❒ Have you included a thesis that takes a clear, specific position on one side of a debatable issue?

Argument Development

❒ Are all of the details relevant to the purpose of your essay?
❒ Is the argument supported using rhetorical appeals and source material?
❒ Is your essay 4-6 pages (approximately 1000-1500 words)? If not, which details do you need to add or delete?

Research

❒ Have you cited outside sources effectively using quotation, summary, or paraphrase?
❒ Are the sources incorporated smoothly, providing the reader with signal phrases and context for the source information?
❒ Have you referenced a range of 2-4 credible sources?
❒ Have you included an APA style reference page below your essay?

Organization and Flow

❒ Is there an introduction, conclusion, adequate body paragraphs, and a counterargument?
❒ Is the argument presented in a logical order and easy for the reader to follow?
❒ Are there transitions within and between paragraphs?

Style

❒ Are the word choices accurate and effective?
❒ Are the sentence structures varied?

Conventions and Formatting

❒ Have you properly cited your sources according to APA style guidelines?
❒ Have you double-checked for correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting, and capitalization?
❒ Have you proofread for typos?

Before You Submit

❒ Have you answered all of the Think About Your Writing questions on a separate page below your reference page? Are your answers thoughtful and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses?
❒ Does your submission include your essay, followed by your reference page, followed by your Think About Your Writing questions?

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Technological Impacts on Education

Introduction

In the present era of high-end epoch technology, school-going children and their

educators incorporate technology in teaching-learning activities. Students at home are seen

trying to complete their assignments given to them by their educators through internet searches.

Thanks to the development of highly efficient electronic devices and Wi-Fi connections in most

households, . tThe students can be able to beat deadlines and attract high scores in grading. The

teaching-learning activities ought to proceed, whether the learners properly use the available

technologies or not.

Nonetheless, the learning media has been significant in enhancing students’ mastery of

content and high academic and professional achievements. On the other end, the rapid

developments of social media infrastructures and advancements in education systems have

presented numerous obstacles. The school-going children get deprived of enough sleeping hours,

feel isolated, and often result in bad body posture and neck pain. These negative impacts of

technology are undeniable. Therefore, the education managers, planners, policymakers, and other

stakeholders should limit electronic devices among learners such as laptops and smartphones to

ensure that the body’s normal biological functions are not altered and ensure that technology

offers feasible teaching-learning opportunities activities.

Argumentations

The use of technology alters the standard sleeping patterns of the students. Many

students often may spend many hours watching mindless amusements and other funny videos,

Comment [PMW2]: The thesis and the argument
that you are presenting are unclear. Are you arguing
for or against technology? New ways of teaching?
Are you arguing against online/distance learning?
The thesis should clearly state a debatable topic and
then state which side of the argument that your paper
will be defending.

Comment [PMW3]: How so? This is unclear.

Comment [PMW4]: Is this the thesis?
Electronics should be limited?

Technological Impacts on Education

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losing focus on their academics. Excessive use of technology automatically deprives them of

their regular sleeping hours. Therefore, the students will be unable to concentrate during their

normal teaching-learning activities in their schools. When these habits are regularly engaged, the

effects on their academic scores become even worse. The production of melatonin gets altered

when the students overuse electronic devices at night. As a result, these learners get deprived of

good sleep during the nights (Barber & Cucalon, 2017).

Our minds often get distracted, where numerous notifications and messages are coming

into our devices. It may seem like simple conversation, but may result in fatal road accidents

when driving while having these gadgets in their hands. A significant number of students found

scrolling and texting with their peers while engaging in literature searches to handling their

assignments. They lose their academic focus, and this will translate to poor academic

performance in schools. Online learning has provided opportunities for cheating (students

recycle assignments), students’ assignments may get lost, good handwriting gets extinct, and time

wastage. Wrong information available or shared online may misguide the student, huge

expenditure in procuring electronic devices and data subscriptions, and limits the teaching-

learning methods since learning modules are installed online.

The students’ writing and academic competencies deteriorate when they rely on

technological tools in their learning course. The students’ three uncontested skills that they are

more likely to lose are; arithmetic, writing, and reading skills. When students learn by typing on

computers, tablets, and smartphones this impairs their reading and handwriting. Notably, the

students acquire practical learning through magazines and printed books than Google books

Comment [PMW5]: Okay, here the argument is
becoming clearer to me. This is a good paragraph. I
think that the introduction should be shorter, and that
the thesis/argument should be presented in a more
direct way.

Comment [PMW6]: This changes the focus and
to continue supporting the argument you should keep
the focus on students.

Comment [PMW7]: Incomplete sentence.

Comment [PMW8]: This is unclear and worded
in a confusing manner.

Comment [PMW9]: This is worded in a
confusing manner.

Technological Impacts on Education

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(Alhumaid, 2019). Technology makes learners’ minds shallow, and students with substantial

memory and understanding are those who read from the linear texts.

Increased information has been taught in a considerably shorter time while students

actively interact with electronic devices rather than the teacher. It deprives the close relationship

between the educator and his/her students. Sometimes the students complete their education

programs without any physical interaction—these dehumanizing impacts of online learning tune

the students out of the natural world (Alhumaid, 2019). Education’s technological implications

have dramatically hampered the educator’s and students’ rapport, challenging effective

communication between them.

Besides having students “wired” to electronic devices depriving the students and teachers

of social connections, they begin to use technological devices to gain security and safety. This

phenomenon was witnessed among 13 UK universities with approximately 1500 Masters’

students undertaking these programs online forums (Carter et al., 2019). Despite rigorous online

support offered by these universities by the host universities, the students gradually develop a

sense of loneliness since they can’t access other students physically. Such isolations have led to

dehumanizing effects whereby the student highly depend on technology for learning and tend to

neglect the human relations the educators presenting the teaching-learning activities online get

deprived of superior social skills. Isolation is more prevalent among children at their tender age

globally, who attend schools when machine learning gets highly developed. The overuse of

gadgets such as tablets, computers, and tablet lead to low academic scores and enhances the

students’ isolation (Carter et al., 2019). From this review, loneliness and isolation are the

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repercussions of inappropriate use of technology among learners, and as a result, they often

forget about their classmates.

Conclusively, results indicate that school-going children are negatively affected by

technological use in teaching and learning activities. Impairment of students’ handwriting,

deterioration of the uncontested skills, dehumanizing impacts of technology, loneliness and

isolation, poor academic scores, poor postures, and sleeping habits are primarily caused by the

misuse of technology among school-going children. The learners’ and students’ rapport should

be adequately developed for the whole development of the student. If the students are misusing

technology and deprive them of their fundamental skills such as good handwriting, reading, and

arithmetic skills, their prospective professional targets would significantly impede. Why, then,

the school managers, policymakers, and stakeholders resist regulating technology use among the

students and teachers?

Body paragraph 8- counterarguments and disproves

Whereas the misuse of technology among the learners, incorporating technology to

enhance teaching has been considered pervasive. Technological gadgets and social media

platforms are rapidly developing globally. Despite the negative impacts, technology in

education has offered enough opportunities to teach, and students learn and access a global

variety of knowledge (Chen et al., 2020). While the various governments and researchers

promote technology in learning, why don’t the schools ensure that technological ‘harm’ gets

limited by advising them to devise interactive content for course enrichment? Technology has

been primarily responsible for provoking isolation and loneliness.

Comment [PMW10]: . This essay is very
confusing and difficult to follow. Many of the
sentences feel as if they were cut-and-pasted into the
work and the wording is all over the place. There are
many incomplete and confusing sentences, too. I am
returning the essay to you for revisions to clarify the
writing and the flow. If you need to, go back and
revisit the lessons on Touchstone 5 or check out this
link to help you to focus and clarify the essay:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academi
c_writing/essay_writing/argumentative_essays.html

Please make the revisions and resubmit the essay for
grading.

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On the other hand, the students can learn globally through media platforms such as

YouTube and Facebook. However, research findings have indicated that the rapid development

of technology can help students when guided on how they can structure online activities that can

adequately enhance collaboration and communication. Better academic scores would be attained

by these learners when there is an appropriate use of technology.

Students’ and educators’ technological use in the teaching-learning activities should never

be abandoned because of deteriorating the student-teacher rapport. The students can complete

their assignments before deadlines by supplementing the online data searches with the lecture

notes. School educators should actively encourage their learners to interact with each other,

share and compare classroom projects and blog posts, and monitor how students interact with

each other globally. Learning with technology would be indispensable such that the learner and

the educator can effectively achieve class aims and objectives if adequately utilized by the

education key players.

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References

Alhumaid, K. (2019). Four Ways Technology Has Negatively Changed Education. Journal of

Educational and Social Research, 9(4), 10-10.

Barber, L. K., & Cucalon, M. S. (2017). Modifying the Sleep Treatment Education Program for

Students to include technology use (STEPS‐TECH): Intervention effects on objective and

subjective sleep outcomes. Stress and Health, 33(5), 684-690.

Carter, J., Appel, O., Salomoni, M., Vourgidis, I., & Chiclana, F. (2019). Supervision of

Postgraduate Independent Study in a Distance Learning Environment Transnational

Higher Education in Computing Courses (pp. 73-85): Springer.

Chen, J. C., Dobinson, T., & Kent, S. (2020). Students’ Perspectives on the Impact of Blackboard

Collaborate on Open University Australia (OUA) Online Learning. Journal of Educators

Online, 17(1), n1.

Think about your writing

1. What have you learned about how to present a strong argument? How could/will
you apply this knowledge in your professional or everyday life (3-4 sentences)?

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From this argumentative essay, I have learned that presenting strong arguments requires

that only factual information is gathered. Helpful resources search as online search (Google

scholar, research articles, and e-books) are fundamental in ensuring that every argument

presented is supported effectively. I also learned that other than presenting argumentative

statements, it is also essential to discuss the counterarguments to make a comparative study of

technology’s pros and cons in learning. Notably, the skills that I have learned will be applicable

in real-life situations characterized by heterogeneity in socio-cultural and economic values.

Various people have varied opinions and arguments in different contexts. Constructive

arguments devoid of bias and dishonest will ensure that every other person’s opinion is important

and deserve to be heard.

2. Consider the English Composition I course as a whole. What have you learned

about yourself as a writer (5-6 sentences)?

Composition writing is a skill that demands proper organization of thoughts. In writing

this argumentative essay, I learned that a lack of good thoughts could be an obstacle in academic

writing. Making significant revisions in sentence structures and checking the organization of

thoughts rigorously is fundamental in improving the write-up’s quality and form. In this work, I

learned that writing effectively and efficiently is a challenging task that demands attention and

when the mind is in sobriety. Writing grammatically correct sentences is relatively easy, but

linking these sentences from the introductory part to the conclusion part is tricky. The

appropriate selection of the topic and the concluding remarks ensured that the work remained in

scope. After writing this work, I have learned that I am gradually becoming a good writer-with

the experience I have gained over time.

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