Backward course design forces us, as faculty, to make tough decisions about what content is really needed for our students to achieve their learning goals.
At the end of four years, students come out of the "educational composter" looking and acting a whole lot different than they did when they first entered.
You can use a focusing activity to introduce a new idea or to set the stage for what's to come during class. They can be high-tech, low-tech, or no tech.