Clare Atkins

Virtual experience: observations on second life

This paper presents some observations on the educational possibilities offered by the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), Second Life (SL) and is based on the authors interactions and experiences as a Second Life resident, educator and mentor. Beginning as an individual exploration of a new technology, primarily for pleasure but always with an opportunistic eye for education, the author has spent hundreds of hours in Second Life over the past 18 months and reports on the special nature of this environment and the challenges that it presents for educators. These observations are based primarily on her experiences, supported by reference to the small but growing literature base and are therefore necessarily subjective and intended to be thought provoking rather than definitive.

Semantic integrity in data warehousing: a framework for understanding

Explores the importance of semantic integrity during data warehouse design and its impact on the successful use of the implemented warehouse. This was achieved through a detailed case study. Consequently, a conceptual framework for describing inter-subjective meaning in data modelling has been developed. The purpose of the framework is to provide a theoretical basis for explaining how a data model is interpreted through the meaning levels of understanding, connotation and generation, and also how a data model is created from an existing meaning structure by intention, generation and action. This paper also describes inhibiting factors for understanding the physical data model based on the case study findings. Furthermore strategies are suggested to address the factors inhibiting the generation of meaning from a data model, in particular for improving understanding. The result of the exploration is the recognition that the implementation of a data warehouse may not assist with providing a detailed understanding of the semantic content of the data warehouse.