Great article and I love the refreshingly new perspective! I would say that your active learning exercises such as having them draw a map IS you acting as “guide on the side” — that is what active learning is all about! And that’s perfect! The idea is that we no longer simply lecture about content that is easily Googled, that we find better uses of class time such as what you have successfully done. This was my point in my TEDx talk “The Internet Has Killed Education as We Know It” https://youtu.be/B1AiU7yAyOg

The teacher still needs to be there to guide them, and what I’m seeing is that the most successful classrooms are a hybrid with some lecture giving students an opportunity to discuss and ask questions, and then active learning exercises.

I love the teacher as “indispensable component of learning” quote!