Teacher: One who helps others to learn. The best teachers create learners who increasingly don't need them.

I second that Metsoskil!

It's not about me at all.

a flipped classroom a sage on the stage or a guide on the side?

If done properly, it should be a guide on the side. - little to no lecturing in class.

Right, but aren't they essentially watching a digital lecture outside of class?

If we, teachers, are to provide opportunities instead of provide info, how do we provide exploration of ideas they've no concept of?

It depends. They do reading/videos/etc. outside of class so that you can do all the hands-on things in class or do what would normally be

homework in class (and the questions from the reading/discussion/etc.)

What do you do if the majority of your students don't have access to the internet outside of school or refuse to do the necessary prep work?

In today's world students have answers to the simple questions- they need help with the deep thinking

Have them spend time getting the simple questions solved on their own and use the teacher for the resource they truly are