Glossaries give students the opportunity to create their own content and are a powerful tool for critical thinking, collaboration and sharing.
The glossary can also become a legacy or resource for future topics. It is a product that could potentially be converted into a publishable resource (eg create your own textbook).
1. Plan your glossary
The glossary tool enables participants (students) to create and maintain a list of definitions or to collect and organise resources/information. If the glossary auto-linking filter is
enabled, entries will be automatically linked where the concept works and/or phrases appear within the topic.
A teacher can allow comments on entries (eg peer review, additional information). Entries can also be rated by teachers or students (peer evaluation). Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the Gradebook.
Glossaries have many uses, such as:
a collaborative bank of key terms
a 'getting to know you' space where new students add their name and key details
a 'handy tips' resource of best practice in a practical subject
a sharing area of useful videos, images or sound files
a revision resource of facts to remember
2. Build your glossary
You have planned your glossary. Now you are ready to set up your glossary. Students will be able to create an entry and add comments (if you choose Yes), but will not be able to rate an entry without further steps (see Glossary - optional settings).
Create a glossary activity
In the topic, click Turn editing on
In the week/module where you want to add the glossary, click Add an activity or resource
Select Glossary and click Add
Give the glossary a Name and Description
Under Entries, amongst other options you can choose to allow comments (default is No)
Under Appearance, select Display format. There are 7 display formats:
Simple, dictionary style - No authors are displayed and attachments are shown as links
Continuous without author - Entries are displayed one after another without any separation apart from the editing icons
Full with author - A forum-like display format showing the author's data and with attachments shown as links
Full without author - A forum-like display format without authors and with attachments shown as links
Encyclopedia - As for "Full with author" but attached images are shown inline
Entry list - Concepts are listed as links
FAQ - The words QUESTION and ANSWER are appended to the concept and definition respectively
Timeline block: Using the 'Expect completed on' date in the Activity completion section will show a date to students in the Timeline block.
Click the Save and display button
Click on the Browse by category tab (1), then the Edit categories button (2). Adding categories to a glossary means you can apply them to entries (and have more than one) which makes for easier searching/navigation
Click Add Category, and name your category
Use the
Automatically link this category drop-down menu to select whether or not you would like to automatically link the category. For more information about auto-linking, see Set up auto-linking in a glossary entry
Click on the Save changes button. Repeat steps 9 & 10 as required (you can also return to this at any time).
The categories you create will allow users the option to browse by the glossary by category
Optional settings
See the following links for more options about using the Glossary activity:
To make sure your glossary works as expected, create a test entry (this can be deleted once you are happy with the result).
Add a glossary entry
Click the Add a new entry button
Fill in the required fields
Click Save changes
Once your entry has been added, try searching for the entry. In the search box type in the name of your entry
Click search
Your entry should now appear. To delete the entry press the trash icon. You can also preview the content by previewing it as a student.
4. Administer your glossary
In order to administer your glossary, you can use a variety of functions (listed below). You can moderate entries, set up ratings, import and export entries.
Export and import glossary entries
When a topic is rolled over, only the settings are copied over - glossary entries (like most student contributions) are not included.
However, you can export the entries from one glossary and import them to another (eg. if you have a glossary of relevant terms/definitions). To do this:
Open the glossary you wish to export entries from
Click on the cog in the top right corner of the glossary tool, and select Export entries
Click the Export entries to file button, and when prompted, save the file.
Open the glossary you wish to import entries into.
Click on the cog in the top right corner of the glossary tool, and select Import entries. Whoever does the importing will be listed as the author of all the imported entries.
Upload the glossary, choose the destination of the imported entries (either the glossary you are in or a new glossary), and tick the import categories box (if needed).
You are advised to request support from your local eLearning support team to do this, as there are some considerations/limitations to this process. For
example, the following features cannot be imported:
Student-created entries – their names will not come across (a good thing)
Glossaries give students the opportunity to create their own content and are a powerful tool for critical thinking, collaboration and sharing. 
You can also preview the content by 
Export and import glossary entries