While all good ideas, it seems a bit extreme. By that I mean if all these practices are followed, it consumes the entire class. I always try to think back to when I was a student of the things my instructs did that I disliked. Those who spent the entire first class (esp those 1:40 minute sessions) doing "intro and overview" were incredibly boring. I wanted to get into some meat and potatoes sooner rather than later. I try to limit my introductions and overview of the course to the first 30 mins of the first class. Then I'll start digging into the beginning material. To accommodate that, I send out emails prior to the course with instructions to do a bit of reading prior to the first class. I make it a point not to overwhelm, too. /disclaimer: I teach in an online environment. We hold two one-hour chats per week.