It was only a matter of time before smartphones began to insinuate themselves into the daily affairs of campus life. "As these tools continue to grow in popularity," reports an August 10, 2011 U.S. News and World Report article, "their influence is extending onto college campuses, where they are used for a variety of purposes."

These purposes have come to include everything from class notes to campus tours.

Gaining in popularity are Quick Response, or QR, codes, black and white designs that, when students scan it with their smartphone camera, delivers to their device relevant information -- about a piece of campus architecture or on W-Fi availability in an area, for example.

QR codes have proven especially popular among university administrators, because they "are inexpensive to produce and easy to use," the U.S. News and World Report article reports.

Also gaining in popularity it MyPocketProf, an app that syncs notes to smartphones, allowing students to review this material from just about anywhere.

It appears that as technology continues to progress, the demand for people with degrees in such areas as instructional technology or visual communication will become just that much greater. As the 21st century wears on, it appears that iPhones and Blackberries are destined to become as emblematic of college matriculation as slide rules and spiral notebooks once were.