Once we had a preliminary wire frame and some initial learning activities integrated into the multimedia material, we pulled together our first focus group.  The focus group, a group of 5 teen girls from Youth Voice Collaborative, self-described themselves as a group "trained to break down media & then go out into the community and make things."  

The first group activity was called "Stump the Expert".  This activity put their adult facilitator ("The Expert") in the position to work on his own and write down all that he knew about Caribbean culture ...his own stated expertise.  While Julian was making his long list, the girls collectively worked to jot down phrases and words on the board; anything they knew about the Caribbean culture.  When Julian came back into the room, he looked at the board and laughed, stating, "Wow. You guys got a lot." He then showed the girls his paper and said how he'd written full sentences. He had started his list with the etymology of the word Caribbean. Lana Swartz, a NML Research Assistant and the Focus Group Facilitator, remarked how starting out with the origin of a word was a really good example of what an expert does.

The two lists were very different and very good in different ways. The one from the girls was totally random and not connected with each other; while Julian's list was more like an expert where things were organized. With the two lists together, the knowledge pooled was that much greater and when the girls were asked what Collective Intelligence means to them. One girl said, "all together" and they all agreed.

This low-tech group activity was an introduction to the Exemplar Library.  The group searched the skill Collective Intelligence and a video on Wikipedia pulled up.  With the learning activities embedded into the multimedia material, the cue-point was when Kevin Driscoll says, "and nobody owns that sandcastle, you all built it together, you're all proud of it, and you all get the benefit of each others' work so you really are relying on each other.  And Wikipedia is like that sandcastle, except no ocean is going to wash Wikipedia away." At that point, the girls could have continued watching the video or pause and step into the exemplar to participate in the online activity.  Stepping in, they were introduced to the Platial.com website, where collective intelligence is used to make maps.  The clip provided a demonstration of how to make a map mash-up and they began to create their own maps.

The girls worked in two groups of two and one girl worked on her own.  They were given the choice and this is what they chose. Interestingly, both 'working alone' & 'working in a group' had its drawbacks. For the girls who were in groups of two, one of the girls tended to do the whole computer part, (though in both groups, the other girl didn't seem to mind). The girl on her own had the drawback of not having anyone with whom to brainstorm and formulate a plan. Luckily, Julian, the adult facilitator, jumped in and played that role which was a good example of the informal mentorship that is a key trait in participatory culture.

The girls had a great time with the activity and a picture was taken of the whole group and posted on the YVC marker on their Platial.com map. There was lots of laughing when they saw the picture. It's a fun picture. When asked if they would make these maps with their friends, they all had a resounding "Yes!"