I guess the question is not has attention spans declined, I think pretty much everyone can say yes.
I suppose the question is, does it matter?
I suppose the question is, does it matter?
What evidence do you base that belief on?
Are you having difficulty understanding a bestseller book? No worries there, just watch a movie or something.
I think there are varieties in the aspect of learning to be considered, some don't learn the same way of others. And that should be considered as well.
But generally I don't think attention spans have anything to do with classroom. People were not paying attention in classrooms WAY before cell phones were invented. The problem is the "room" part of a classroom in my opinion.
Reading I do agree with though.
And I learned a lot more by reading stuff from Wikipedia on my own pace than I learned reading textbooks. So, good point.