Glossary activity

Glossary activity is a module that allows users to create a list of definitions like dictionary. A glossary can be a collaborative activity or be restricted to entries made by the teacher. Entries can be put in categories. The auto-linking feature will highlight any word in the course which is located in the glossary.

Add Glossary

• With the edit turned on, in the section you wish to add glossary click "Add activity" then select "Glossary".

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To expand all settings, select "Expand all".

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• Name - name your glossary.
• Description - describe the purpose of your glossary, provide background information and links.
• Display description on course page - If this box is ticked, the description will appear on the course page just below the name of the glossary.
• Global glossary - Administrators can make a global glossary, with entries linking throughout the whole site. Any course may contain a global glossary, though the best practice is to place a global glossary on the site front page.
• Glossary type - Here you can decide whether the glossary will be main or secondary. This feature enables you to choose particular entries from any number of secondary glossaries in the course and add them to the main glossary. You can only have one main glossary per course.

Entries

• Approved by default - If set to "yes" then new entries appear automatically. If not, then the teacher must approve each one first.
• Always allow editing - If set to "yes", students can edit their entries at any time. If not, then they can only edit for a certain period - as defined by site policies.

Duplicate entries allowed - This allows the entry of more than one definition for a given word. Allow comments on entries - Students and teachers can leave comments on glossary definitions. The comments are available through a link at the bottom of the definition. Automatically link glossary entries - If the Glossary auto-linking filter is enabled by an administrator, then turning this on allows individual entries in this glossary to be automatically linked whenever the concept words and phrases appear throughout the rest of the same course. This includes forum postings, internal resources, week summaries and so on.

Adding a glossary entry

To add a glossary entry click "Add a new entry" button in the administration block.

• Concept - Enter the word you want to define in the Concept text field.
• Definition - Add the definition of the word or concept.
• Keywords - Each glossary entry can have an associated list of keywords. If the entry is auto-linked then any keywords will also be auto-linked. Each key word to be entered on a new line not separated by comas.
• Attachment - If you want to add an attachment, such as a picture or an article, you can either drag/drop it or click the "Add" button to upload via the File picker.

This entry should be automatically linked

If the Glossary auto-linking filter is enabled, and "This entry should be automatically linked" is set to "yes", the entry will be automatically linked wherever the concept or keyword(s) appear within the same Cert course, such as in forum postings, labels, web pages, books etc.

This entry is case sensitive

This setting specifies whether matching exact upper and lower case is necessary when performing automatic linking to these entries.

Match whole words only

If automatic linking is enabled, then turning this setting on will force only whole words to be linked. For example, a glossary entry named "construct" will not create a link inside the word "constructivism".

Tags

Glossary entries may be tagged. Glossary entry tags may be added to a specified tag collection and standard tags may be suggested or forced.

Editing the glossary

To edit a whole glossary, for example to change its name or description, turn editing on and click on the Edit icon next to its name, then choose 'edit settings'.

Editing glossary entries

To edit a glossary item click on the glossary name, navigate to the glossary entry you want, and then click on the Edit icon, to the bottom-right of the glossary item. You can also delete the item entirely by clicking "X".

Adding categories

Categories may be created to help organize your glossary entries. If you've enabled autolinking, the category names can be linked along with individual entries. Make sure your chosen display format has categories as a visible tab in:

Site administration>Plugins>Activity modules>Glossary

To create glossary category;

• Click the "Browse by category" tab in the main page of the glossary.
• Click the "Edit categories" button on the left side of the page.
• Click the "Add category" button on the resulting Categories page.
• Give the category a name.
• Choose whether you want the category name autolinked as well.
• Click the "Save changes" button.

Browse options

You can browse glossaries according to the following options;

• Browse by alphabet
• Browse by category (if there are any categories added)
• Browse by date (you can sort entries by last update or by creation date)
• Browse by author

Search Options

You can also search for a given word using the Search field. Checking the 'Search full text' option (on the right side of the Search box) allows searching for a given word in any position in the text.

Waiting approval

If entries require teacher approval before being publicly posted, the number of entries will appear in a link: To approve the teacher clicks the link and then the 'approve' tick/checkmark icon. If an entry is approved by mistake, it can be undone by clicking the 'undo approval' circle with a line through it icon.

Print Glossary

To print glossary, there is a printer icon. Click on the icon, Cert opens a new that presents all words and definitions in a printable format. To print, proceed as follows;

• Click the printer icon at the top of the main glossary page.
• From the newly opened window, choose Print from the File menu of your browser.
• Once the word list has printed, close the printer-friendly format window.

See also

Workshop