Teachers´ Resources

Step Inside the Alberta Legislature Virtual Visit

Overview

Explore the Legislature!

To Alberta's youth the Virtual Visit may resemble a video game, but the resource has strong educational merit. The Virtual Visit is a three-dimensional online experience that allows users to explore the Alberta Legislature either on their own or via a guided tour, in English or French. The layout, scale, lighting and finishes of the Alberta Legislature are replicated to unprecedented detail. Teachers may develop their own lessons and activities to use within this environment or may access any of the educational resources which are provided.

The Virtual Visit: Step Inside the Alberta Legislature project was developed by the learning technologies branch, Alberta Education, in 2005 as a centennial project in collaboration with the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. It was designed to replicate, not replace, the live public and educational tours offered by the visitor services branch of the Legislative Assembly Office and to provide a virtual environment to support educational activities relevant to the new social studies program of studies at various grade levels. No password is required. The Virtual Visit is available to anyone with Internet access.

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A Multi-User Experience

Take Pictures

The Virtual Visit requires each user to create a customized character, or avatar, and select a name for it from a list (listed names appear as a user starts to type in letters). When the user's avatar enters the virtual Legislature, they may find other avatars in the building as well. These avatars represent other people who have also started a Virtual Visit from their computer. This multi-user capability allows a group of students in a computer lab or any other setting where each student has access to their own computer to see each other in the virtual environment.

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Explore or Join a Tour

When you launch the Virtual Visit, you must choose to "Discover the Legislature Building on Your Own" or "Join a Tour or Create Your Own New Group Tour".

Discover the Legislature Building on Your Own:

This choice allows the user to have complete control over their avatar and the freedom to explore the building. They can move and look anywhere they wish within the accessible areas. Students can learn about the building and the historical objects in it by clicking on them and generating pop-up information boxes, many of which include downloadable documents which provide additional details and photos. Can you find the secret passage to the Palm Room in the dome of the building?

Join a Tour or Create Your Own New Group Tour:

This choice gives the user the option of joining a tour that has already been created by someone else or creating a new tour. In either case a password is required. If you are joining a tour, you must find out what the password is. The password allows a teacher to restrict a tour group to their class only. No other visitors to the virtual Legislature would be able to join them. In tour mode a user does not have control of their avatar. Each user's avatar will join a computer-generated tour guide and will automatically follow that guide as they tour the building. A prerecorded soundtrack provides the same information students would get if they were taking a live tour.

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Take Pictures Anywhere

Take Pictures

A new feature in the Virtual Visit is the capability to take pictures anywhere in the building. By clicking on the camera icon in the upper left part of the tour window, a camera is activated and replaces the user's avatar. The user can then pan in any direction, zoom in or out, and snap a picture. Note that the picture is saved to the computer's clipboard, and each picture taken replaces the previous one. To preserve a picture, it must be pasted into another application before another picture is taken.

Useful Tip

It is possible to snap up to 24 images in a row and have them all saved for later use. Prior to launching the Virtual Visit, start Microsoft Word, version 2003 or later and hold down the Ctrl key while tapping the C key twice. On a Mac, open the Tools menu and choose Scrapbook. This will activate the Office Clipboard. Now leaving Microsoft Word open, switch applications to your web browser and launch the Virtual Visit. You can now take up to 24 pictures, and they will all be recorded into the Office Clipboard in Microsoft Word.

The ability to take pictures anywhere in the Virtual Visit provides an excellent tool for students who are creating a report or presentation on the Alberta Legislature. In addition, students can take a picture of themselves or their entire class on the steps of the Grand Staircase. The camera behaves a little differently here in that the picture is always taken from the same perspective: looking up the staircase. The user can stand on the stairs (turn and face the "camera" by looking toward the fountain) and activate the camera. Gather all the students' avatars on the Grand Staircase to get a class picture in the virtual Legislature!

Note: The camera is only available in the "Discover the Legislature Building on Your Own" mode.

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Educational Activities and Resources

Educational activities and resources are accessible throughout the Virtual Visit. They can be found anywhere an activity stand is located. Clicking on an activity stand will open a new window with links to the activities and resources identified below.

The Virtual Visit includes a number of Critical Challenges (CCs), specific social studies critical thinking lessons which might be undertaken in pursuing a larger overarching critical inquiry. The suggested CCs are illustrative of the questions or tasks that would engage students in thinking critically about various components of the overarching inquiry. Many of the CCs incorporate interactive video interviews which provide an experience similar to students who are able to attend live School-at- the-Leg. interviews.

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Near the water fountain on the 2nd (main) floor

Location in the Virtual Visit:

Near the water fountain on the second (main) floor

Critical Challenge: Refereeing Fairness: The Role of the Ombudsman
Assess whether or not the role of the Ombudsman is an effective way to ensure that the provincial government treats citizens fairly.

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Assembly Chamber on the 3rd floor

Location in the Virtual Visit:

On the floor of the Assembly Chamber on the third floor (access provided near the door at the top of the Grand Staircase)

  • Critical Challenge: I’m Your MLA – Here’s My Card!
    Design a visual representation, such as a business card, that represents the key duties (roles and responsibilities) of a Member of the Legislative Assembly (either an MLA, a cabinet minister or Leader of the Opposition) by analyzing the information in the references provided (on MLA’s business cards and in videotaped interviews with current MLAs).

  • Critical Challenge: Sticks and Stones: Symbolism in the Alberta Legislature
    Determine the three most powerful symbols of democracy in the Alberta Legislature.

  • Exploring Election Data
    This interactive mathematics resource allows students to explore and interpret Alberta provincial election results from 1905 to 2004 using a pictograph, line graph, bar graph, circle graph or data table. The resource includes print activities, solutions, learning strategies, and a video interactive.

  • Audio and Video Assembly Proceedings
     Link to live and archived video and audio coverage of the House in session (from the Legislative Assembly of Alberta website).

  • Elected Members of the Assembly
    Link to biographical and contact information for each elected Member of the Assembly (from the Legislative Assembly of Alberta website: www.assembly.ab.ca)

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Entrance to the Premier's office on the 3rd floor

Location in the Virtual Visit:

In the hallway near the entrance to the Premier's office on the third floor

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Premier Aberhart on the 3rd floor

Location in the Virtual Visit:

In the hallway near the portrait of Premier Aberhart on the third floor

  • Ideology and the News Media (full version). This resource focuses on ideology, political power, and rights and freedoms in a democratic society. The main assignment is to write an editorial based on Premier William Aberhart's (Social Credit Party) radio address in which he promotes the adoption of the The Accurate News and Information Act. The editorial writing assignment is carried out in a virtual newsroom where students interact with an editor, copy editor, political correspondent, reporter, photographer, cartoonist and librarian.

  • Ideology and the News Media ("lite" version). This "lite" version has all of the required resources and graphics. However, a number of the special effects have been stripped out to allow it to play more efficiently on older, slower computers.

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Lieutenant-Governor's office on the 3rd floor

Location in the Virtual Visit:

Near the entrance to the Lieutenant Governor's office on the third floor

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Famous Five on the 5th floor

Location in the Virtual Visit:

Near the portraits of the Famous Five on the fifth floor

  • Emily Murphy (Video - Historica Minute). Recounts how Murphy and a group of Canadian women secured the rights of women as persons throughout the Commonwealth.

  • Nellie McClung (Video - Historica Minute). Depicts Nellie McClung's confrontation with Premier R.P. Roblin to win the right to vote for Manitoban women. (1916)

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