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January's Topic:
COOKIES FOR ONLINE INSTRUCTORS
A "cookie" is a small piece of information sent by a web server to store on a web browser so it can later be read back from that browser. This allows a browser (e.g. Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer) to remember specific information. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. are you wondering how cookies can be used by online instructors? Well, one example is to personalize a web page by collecting a student's name in a form and inserting it in various places of the document, as we have done in this web page. (webReference.com's column on cookies was used a guide to create the cookie functions on this page). Perhaps personalizing a web page in this manner can help reduce the feelings of isolation that is often associated with online learning. A cookie that counts the number of times a student has visited a site might provide useful feedback and motivation. According to our cookie, If you reload this page, you can see this number change. (see webReference.com's column on cookies to see how we did this). A cookie could also remember the time and date of a student's last visit and compare that to the current time, generating a message like "Gee, it's been awhile since you've checked in." Or the page could alert the student if there are new assignments posted since her last visit. If you design web-based tutorials, you could use cookies to remember which pages the student has visited. When the student returns, the last page the student visited could automatically be loaded in the browser. There are some caveats to using cookies in your course web pages. Some people might mind that you are tracking their "click trail" and recording information about them. While the use of cookies might seem like a potential invasion or privacy, a cookie cannot be used to access data from a hard drive, capture an e-mail address, or steal sensitive information. Still, some people prefer to disable cookies, thus rendering all of your cookies useless! Also, data collected by the cookie can be reused each time the students visits your page as long as the student is using the same browser on the same PC. Do you have any questions or suggestions about using cookies
in online education? Have you successfully used cookies for a web page?
Post your questions/comments/ideas in Resources: ION's discussion about cookies Crispy
JavaScript Cookies Netscape
Cookies Suggestions, Questions, Corrections? Please contact us.
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