Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Now that it's over, what are your first thoughts about this overall project/activity? Are they mostly positive or negative? Why?
What were some of the most interesting discoveries you made while working on this project? About the problem? About the topic? About yourself? About others?
How much did you know about the subject before we started?
What process did you go through to produce this piece or complete this project/activity?
Have you done a similar kind of work in the past (earlier in the year or in a previous course; in school or out of school)?
What problems did you encounter while you were working on this project/activity? How did you solve them?
What resources did you use while working on this project/activity? Which ones were especially helpful? Which ones would you use again?
What were some of my most challenging moments and what made them so?
What were some of my most powerful learning moments and what made them so?
Inward-looking (So what??)
What is the most important thing you learned personally during this project/activity?
How do you feel about this project/activity?
What were your goals for this project/activity? Did your goals change as you worked on it? Did you meet your goals?
What does this project/activity reveal about you as a learner?
What did you learn about yourself as you worked on this project/activity?
How does this project/activity link to previous experiences/knowledge?
Did this project/activity change how you looked at this subject/topic?
What parts of project/activity/outcome do you particularly like? Dislike? Why?
What did/do you enjoy about this project/activity?
What did you learn were your greatest strengths?
What did you learn were your biggest areas for improvement?
What moments are you most proud of your efforts/involvement?
In what ways have you improved at this kind of work?
In what ways do you think you need to improve?
What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?
What standards did you set for the project/activity? Did you meet those standards?
Comparing and contrasting this project/activity with a previous project/activity, what changes do you notice? How did those changes come about? What does that tell you about yourself and how you learn?
Outward-looking (So what??)
How does your project/activity make an impact on others?
How does your project/activity advance the understanding of the topic?
How do you feel your project/activity/solution relates to real-world situations and problems?
If someone else were looking at your project/activity/outcome, what might they learn about the topic?
If someone else were looking at your project/activity/outcome, what might they learn about who you are?
What is one thing you want people to notice when they look at your work?
If you were the instructor, what comments/feedback would you make about this project/activity/outcome? What grade would you give it? Why?
What were some things your teammates did that helped you to learn or overcome obstacles?
How did you help others during this process? How do you feel you may have hindered others?
Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently/similar?
Forward-looking (What now??)
What is the next step for this project/activity?
How will you use what you learned in the future?
What would you do differently if you were to approach the same problem again?
What would you change if you had a chance to do this project/activity again?
What will you change in the next draft/step/version of this project?
As you look at the outcome, what's one thing that you would like to try to improve upon?
What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?
How can you better support and encourage my teammates on future projects?
What is the next step for this or similar projects?