I have responded to your query here:
http://educononline.com/2011/10/02/buses-and-schools-lets-flip/

Gilbert Ng says:
January 30, 2012 at 6:10 am

I tried flipped learning with my students last year, but the problem was in making sure the students actually watched the videos. Many didn’t and only watched it in class, making the lesson flow very awkward. I think the issue was that Singapore students simply are not used to this method and exams were nearing so I didn’t persist. What was your experience with flipped learning?

Hi Gilbert

Thanks for reading my blog and trying out the suggestion on the flipped classroom. I have long left the teaching service so I have not tried it myself. But I think what you are facing is similar with almost any new initiative; there will be some initial teething problems with the implementation. Perhaps, I can share with you another experience I had with my attempts to introduce mind mapping to my students and NOT give them any study notes which as you well know, Singapore students have come to expect as a given right.

As usual there was resistance as students preferred the traditional set of notes as they found these “easier” to memorise as these notes would be in fairly complete sentences and almost all they had to do was to regurgitate.

They also mind mapping difficult although I had conducted workshops on it myself for them to learn it. I demonsstrated how it is done in class, from a fully guided mind map to eventually one with them having to fill They are not native English

I found that students also find it hard to understand why I have to be different from the rest of the teachers as the others were quite happy dishing out the traditional notes.

As a result, many students refuse to even try make their own mind maps.

But I persisted. I didn’t give in to them. But it was hard work initially as the other teachers were still dishing out the traditional study notes. The persistence paid off eventually as my students eventually got used to doing their own mind maps. And I know they continued using mind maps when they moved on to the higher institutions of learning.

So how can this help you? The need for persistence is obvious. Students and teachers are in their comfort zones, so only time and persistence will effect any change.

Another thing you can do is to watch the video with you in class first. I am assuming that when you get students to watch with you, you have provided them with some guide related to what they are to look out for. Guide them through in class a few videos. You are in effect modelling what they ought to do eventually. Like what I did with the mind maps. Each time reducing the amount of guidance and leaving more of the enquiry to the students themselves. I think expecting them to watch be able to watch your videos meaningfully on their own without this will be difficult for them as it is a new skill that ought to be taught first.

At the same time, you must demonstrate that the videos that they are watching is not fluff but has relevance to their learning (dare I say examinations?). Make them accountable for what they watch. Do not spoon feed. Expect them to demonstrate that learning has taken place.

Lastly, do not forget some kind of support. You may want them to work in teams but perhaps with differentiated worksheets so no blind copying will take place but they may be able to discuss different aspects of the video. Use co-operative learning principles to help make this work.

I hope that helps. Let me know what you think.