The Carr article vaguely incorporated the idea that our brains may have chemically and physically changed the way they operate which affects our learning.
I think this claim is a little ridiculous. If we acknowledge the evolution timeline, it's pretty obvious that in the time since the internet, or even google has been invented there hasn't been enough time for the brain to physically evolve and change how it performs certain tasks. It would just... it would have to take longer than 40 years for that to essentially change. (I'm not an anthropology guru but I've taken basic classes so I feel pretty confident in my knowledge with no citation)
More interesting to me than "is technology changing us" is how we have reacted to our suspicions that technology is changing us. Teaching elementary school has changed SO radically since my parents went to school in the early 60s. School was about discipline, repetition, and memorization. I think schools have slowly begun to cater to kids "needs" for fun and flashy education, and focused less on the memorization of facts. Has this become even more the case as younger and younger students learn to use new technologies? When children's brains are hardwiring basic information and knowledge, have we modified the ways we teach them to learn in the quick ways of new technology? I'm unsure.
The idea of technologies in elementary school is a great example to discuss here. My daughter is in first grade and is playing a math game on the web with participants from all across the world. I think technology has often been associated with "engagement." It sounds like you have some healthy skepticism regarding the extent to which technologies change our thinking.