I have been working hard to keep my students actively engaged in class and have found that making class worthwhile is what keeps them coming back.
I have to ask myself, “what can my students get from me that they cannot get from watching a youtube video?” We are literally competing with the internet and all of the knowledge it holds. We must be better than the videos, even the ones we create, when students are in front of us. Why should they come to class if they can have the same experience online?
This is why I have embraced flipped classroom models and active learning. Putting the learning onto my students ahead of class and creating dynamic and engaging cooperative learning on the days and times that my class meets has created the draw for students to come to class consistently.
If you are going to flip your classroom I suggest making video assignments (preferably video cued), where students watch a short clip of a longer video, answer a question or two related to the content in the video, then proceed to watching more of the same video or another short video, then answering more questions, and so on. This models more of the classroom feel of taking in some information and practicing it or reflecting on the new information before taking on more new information.
Before using video assignments, my students were not prepared for the active group learning activities that I had planned for the scheduled class times. These video assignments assess their progress and help to motivate the students to be prepared for class.