For the last three years, I have been the CEO of the education technology company, Rafter. Combined with my experience as an executive in the mobile space at Intellisync, this has provided me with some unique insights into the mobile generation gap and what colleges specifically can do to embrace mobile on campus.

Professors once saw the mobile phone as the enemy to productive learning, with students tuning out of lectures to text and call each other. But this massive invasion of smartphones and tablets also provides opportunities for new educational possibilities.

Students now have access to adaptive learning technologies, more robust in-classroom engagement, mobile checkout processes, mobile price comparisons in on-campus stores, and even peer-to-peer resource sharing. These services are collectively used by millions of students, who find them engaging and valuable resources.

Equally important are the types of educational content that students can access, the ability to leverage…