College students today are more tech savvy than ever before. Just how important is technology to their academic lives?

More than 90% use email to communicate with professors and 73% say they cannot study without technology. Seven in 10 take notes on keyboards instead of paper, virtually all students who own an ereader read textbooks on it and most use digital tools when preparing a presentation.

All that tech has caused something of a dependency too — 38% of students can't go more than 10 minutes without checking their smartphone or other device. All told, students spent $13 billion on electronics in 2009.

Community college students are less digitally connected than students at four-year schools, but more and more people are making the Internet their education gateway. Twelve million students take at least one class online today — in five years, that number is projected to exceed 22 million. By 2014, analysts say, more than 3.5 million students will take all of their classes online.

This is all according to research compiled by Presta Electronics. Presta used material from the Pew Research Center, Chronicle of Higher Education, Mashable and other sources to put together the infographic below. Check it out for the full picture of how technology is changing college students' lives.

Do you think technology is changing college for the better — or are there downsides?