THE ATTENTION ECONOMY AND SCHOOL LEARNING: IMPACTS OF HYPERCONNECTIVITY ON ADOLESCENTS' READING AND CONCENTRATION

Abstract

The expansion of digital platforms and the integration of smartphones into everyday practices have transformed the ways in which information, communication, entertainment, and learning are accessed, particularly among adolescents. Alongside the opportunities created by digital culture, concerns have intensified regarding fragmented attention, media multitasking, frequent interruptions, and changes in reading practices. In this context, this article aims to analyze how the dynamics of the attention economy and hyperconnectivity are related to adolescents’ concentration, reading, and school learning. The study adopts a qualitative, bibliographic, exploratory, and analytical approach, drawing on books, scientific articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, theses, dissertations, and national and international institutional documents. The discussion is organized around four interconnected dimensions: the attention economy and the architecture of digital platforms; hyperconnectivity, digital distraction, and media multitasking; digital reading and deep reading; and educational implications for schools and teacher mediation. The literature indicates that the effects of digital technologies cannot be understood through a linear or deterministic perspective, since they depend on device characteristics, conditions of use, the nature of the tasks performed, and mediation processes. Nevertheless, recurrent exposure to environments structured around notifications, rewards, content switching, and continuous stimulation may compete with attentional resources required for sustained concentration, working memory, and reading comprehension. It is concluded that schools need to recognize attention as a pedagogical dimension by promoting digital self-regulation, deep reading practices, and intentional uses of technology that preserve the cognitive conditions necessary for meaningful learning.