From SLIS Second Life Wiki

Summary

The Sloodle MetaGloss existed in prototype form for quite some time. However, it was finally introduced properly into the Sloodle arsenal in Sloodle 0.2, and can be rezzed from a Sloodle Set (versions 0.7 and later). It allows access to Moodle glossaries from in-world.

What's in a name?

The MetaGloss is a tool in the Second Life 'metaverse', allowing access to Moodle 'glossaries'. Hence, "MetaGloss".

Compatibility

The MetaGloss is a sub-component of the Sloodle Set, so please check the Sloodle Set Compatibility information.

Setup

Automatic Configuration

The MetaGloss is distributed as part of the Sloodle Set. It is recommended that you use the official Sloodle.org Object Distributor to obtain an appropriate Set for your Sloodle version. Rez and configure the Sloodle Set, and click on the object vendor box (the tall one in the middle). Select the "MetaGloss" option from the dialog that appears, and a MetaGloss should be rezzed for you.

The Sloodle Set will automatically configure the MetaGloss for you, so it should be ready to use.

Notecard Configuration

As with many Sloodle objects, if you prefer you can configure the MetaGloss manually using a notecard. It uses the same format as the 'sloodle_config' notecard for a Sloodle Set, so you can use the Sloodle notecard setup page on your Moodle site to generate one (if you are an administrator). The text from there should be placed into a notecard called "sloodle_config" in the MetaGloss's inventory.

There is no automatic reset option if you want to manually change the configuration. Before changing the configuration notecard, you should manually reset the "sloodle_metagloss" script inside the MetaGloss's inventory. After that, you can replace the "sloodle_config" notecard, and it should automatically be reconfigured.

Notecard configuration is useful because:

• it will not lose its configuration when it is reset
• it does not require the use of a Sloodle Set every time
• it can be slightly more secure than automatic configuration

Usage

Anybody can interact with the MetaGloss, so make sure the glossary does not contain sensitive information.

When the MetaGloss is first configured, it will fetch a list of glossaries in the selected course from Moodle. Initially, no glossary is selected, but any user may click it to select a glossary, and which point it starts listening for requests. If it receives no requests for a minute or two, then it temporarily de-activates, but can be re-activated again simply by clicking it (keeping the same glossary selected).

At any time while the glossary is listening, any user may click to select a new glossary, or refresh the list of glossaries (e.g. if a new glossary has been created on the Moodle site).

To request a definition while the glossary is listening, any user may chat "/def " followed by a letter, word, or phrase. (The space after "/def" is important!). The MetaGloss will then request a definition from the Moodle glossary, and report any matching results via. Otherwise, it will report that no results could be found.