jQuery Change Element Type usage: $("span").changeElementType("div")

jqChangeElementType.js

// from Andrew Whitaker and Jazzbo, http://stackoverflow.com/a/15554920/161625
$.fn.changeElementType = function(newType) {
    var newElements = [];

    $(this).each(function() {
        var attrs = {};

        $.each(this.attributes, function(idx, attr) {
            attrs[attr.nodeName] = attr.nodeValue;
        });

        var newElement = $("<" + newType + "/>", attrs).append($(this).contents());

        $(this).replaceWith(newElement);

        newElements.push(newElement);
    });

    return $(newElements);
};