Must I choose a side? Really? No, I believe that the answer to whether children's attention spans are getting shorter or not is not necessarily a function of technology. The argument is that technology is causing a fundamental shift in the brains of children, and because of that, they are more able to multitask than previous generations. However, I remember when I was a kid, having the inability to focus on any one thing for any length of time before eventually falling into "daydreamland," was more likely than not.
It's interesting that the author of the "yes" piece puts a judgmental spin on attention, hearkening back to the good 'ol days. Marcovitz draws a comparison to today in the example of the Lincoln /Douglas debates that lasted days and required a dinner break because opening arguments lasted for three hours. He says, "Imagine our students sitting for three hours at a time attending to anything." That's just insulting. I've seen kids (and myself) do something for much longer than three hours. Do you think that people were not leaving the debates, for the call of nature? People in the back having small discussions? I doubt it. That was the framework of the time, and the expectation of oratory.
I wonder about the premise. I believe that perhaps we are enabling kids to jump around technologically that they weren't able to in the old days. And if they can be learning more of that time, so much the better.
