What shorter attention spans have to do with global education results plummeting to records lows

Senior Writer·NZ Herald·19 Sep, 2026 04:59 PM11 mins to read‌ew Zealand schools were more likely than OECD counterparts to be prepared for digital learning, have a cellphone ban, and have subject-specific guidelines on digital devices.The latest international education report shows falling achievement with no sign of slowing. New Zealand is bucking this trend, but results are still far from the academic heights of 15 years ago. Senior writer Derek Cheng unpacks the data. Shrinking attention spans from social media doomscrolling are making it harder