I tie the concepts back to stuff I've done in industry and try to assign homework and projects that teach skills relevant to new technologies or stuff they may

I tie the concepts back to stuff I've done in industry and try to assign homework and projects that teach skills relevant to new technologies or stuff they may do at work. I tend to use "interview questions" to the class and that tends to generate discussion. While I stick to the expected curriculum, I prioritize content to stuff that is likely to be used again. Students appreciate this. On a more superficial level, I put memes in slides. This was for a databases class. Very important nowadays, but known to be one of the more boring classes.