Oeuvre Elite

s teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading — diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books.

Texting, Twitter contributing to students' poor grammar skills, profs say

Little or no grammar teaching, cell phone texting, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, are all being blamed for an increasingly unacceptable number of post-secondary students who can't write

digital culture may cause negative changes in the brains of users – reducing attention spans, lowering empathy

Using self-report data, Sara Konrath and colleagues find that college students today are less empathic than previous generations

There is evidence that multitasking leads to a lowering of performance, and it may be true that people tend to engage in more multitasking today than formerly, because they have tablets, smartphones and laptops constantly available

"There is a widespread belief among teachers that students' constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks."