The Flipping Librarian

Chambers, Julia

Valenza, J. K., (2012). The flipping librarian. Teacher Librarian, 40(2), 22-25. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=llf&AN=84415736&site=ehost-live

This article looks at the growing trend of flipped classrooms (in which teachers have students receive instruction on their own time through instructional videos, audio clips, slideshares, etc. and then devote classroom time to experiential learning activities that they facilitate). The author makes an argument that librarians have an untapped role in helping teachers experiment with and execute this form of learning in the following ways:

• Introduce the idea to teachers and help interested teachers experiment with the format
• Evaluate and locate existing open source educational content that teachers can use for the instructional component, including TED-ed, Google Apps Ed, OER (open educational resources), Curriki, Khan Academy, SolveforX, MIT Open Courseware, iTunes University)
• Support teachers in the development & publication of their own instructional content (videotaping their lectures, introducing screencasting tools, slideshares, interactive posters)
• Assist students in creating their own content to be shared with the classroom as instructional videos.

The article referenced a YouTube video that explains the concept of The Flipped Classroom:

The Flipped Classroom by Aaron Sams

This article raises some interesting ideas about how librarians can work within changing teaching practices, not only in collaborating with teachers in the online curriculum design/development, but also in a classroom that is now devoted to student-lead inquiry. Librarians can and should be available to assist in these classrooms to work with students directly on their research processes as needed.

ET-Inquiry and Problem-based Learning
ET-Flipped Classroom