Wow, last week in August already. Hard to believe that the summer is almost over and that some students are already back at college. Luckily my university is on the quarter system so I have another month to prepare. But in the vein of back-to-school time, here are some interesting articles to check out about college, dropout rates and other stuff.

This is an interesting article about dropout rates for college students in the United States. Definitely check out the suggestions at the end for tweaking the educational system in order to retain more students. I definitely agree that the entire remediation course idea needs to be re-engineered.

Speaking of change, check out this article from The Guardian on the “quiet” academic library revolution. While this might not be news to those of us that work in academic libraries, it is always nice to see articles about what work is “really like” for academic librarians. It’s all about the teaching and the technology–even on the other side of the pond.

danah boyd writes some of the most interesting pieces on technology today. Check out her “It’s easy to fall in love with technology…” article. I love that she attacks the notion “digital native”. Many of my students aren’t comfortable with technology and I get tired of reading all the articles that say that everyone under the age of 20 is a pro with every technology under the sun. Really, take the time to read this article–it has many great points to think about and discuss with your colleagues.

Finally, because it is back-to-school time, I thought we could all use Lifehacker’s 10 tricks for creatively hiding your stuff. There is nothing like a clean room to clear your mind so you can get down to work.

Finally, because everyone needs a laugh, here is xkcd’s latest flowchart on computer tech support. Enjoy!