Library Instruction as Participatory Art: Engaging Students with Tablets and Active Learning

Abstract

Participatory art engages its audience in the creative process. Similarly, librarians from UW-Eau Claire are engaging their students by “flipping the classroom” and giving students the opportunity to collaborate and actively engage with information literacy concepts and library collections. Librarians worked with the administration to acquire an iPad mobile lab in an arrangement that was mutually beneficial: Librarians were able to expand teaching spaces to accommodate growing demand for their instruction and experiment with active learning strategies; at the same time, librarians serve as ambassadors for the technology and active learning techniques across campus.