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.
(Adapted from "Best Practices and Expectations for Online Teaching” at Penn State.)
Teaching in an online environment is different from teaching in a face-to-face classroom. Let's look at some best practices and expectations for your online teaching at UConn.
Having a course syllabus available online is not only helpful in providing information for students deciding in which course to enroll, but it also communicates crucial information about course requirements (materials, exam information, software/hardware requirements, etc.). This article will explain some some methods of hosting and the process of sending the link to eCampus.
Fully online courses may still require in-person proctoring to administer exams and verify student identities. However, online learners are often geographically dispersed—regionally, nationally, or even internationally—making travel to a central testing site impractical or unfeasible. In such cases, in-person testing remains a viable option, provided certain factors are taken into account. This article provides guidance on approving alternate proctoring locations as a flexible and effective solution.
This post is a resource for faculty teaching online graduate and certificate programs as well as the various staff and administrators who support these programs. It is intended to provide information and guidance around roles and procedures that will help faculty be most effective in preparing to design, develop and teach online.
This post reviews the steps needed to re-offer a previously taught online course, including obtaining, restoring, and resetting the HuskyCT/Blackboard course site.
Communication with students is a key part of Managing Your Online Course; this post has announcement and email templates to aid with that communication.”
The Course Facilitation Plan (CFP) outlines the key steps to take before, during, and after your course implementation, presented in the recurring course life-cycle, as well as recognizing the four roles of an online instructor. Download a copy of the file to create your own customized version.
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) offers syllabus templates that meets the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for online documents and is available for download. This post describes how to access the templates, along with some tips on ensuring the document remains accessible.
These are some tips to help make the online proctoring process run more smoothly and provide the best student experience as possible.
PLEASE NOTE: ProctorU is an online exam proctoring service available to eCampus designed courses with UConn students formally enrolled listed as ONLINE in StudentAdmin (usually OA). This post addresses setting up a faculty ProctorU account for use with your UConn ONLINE course(s).