"Members of this new generation also have an 8-second attention span, down from 12 seconds in 2000, and 11 percent of them are diagnosed with attention deficiency syndrome, compared to 7.8 percent in 2003. They prefer to communicate in symbols such as Emoji, rather than words: It's faster, less unnecessarily precise and more intuitive. "
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-06-18/nailing-generation-z
For educators:
Lectures don't work unless it's a diverse presentation.
Use the 8 seconds to get their attention and set them loose to discover.
If students have processing issues, realize that redirection may need to take place multiple times in each minute. Engagement and addressing student learning preferences ease the challenges presented by a student with processing issues.