November 2020 was the eighth consecutive month that I, like many of you, have been teaching all my childbirth classes virtually.  I am fully planning that the first half of 2021 will remain virtual as well.  With that in mind, for the November 2020 Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators idea, I thought I would share Jeopardy, a fun online game that has been in use as a learning tool for many years.  The longtime host of Jeopardy, Alex Trebeck, passed away this month at the age of 80, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.  Jeopardy, the popular game show that requires the answer to be in the form of a question translates very well to a childbirth class activity.  For a wide variety of childbirth class activities , please browse all 66 previous Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators ideas,  by following this link.

Introduction

Many of us have used an online version of Jeopardy with the families in our birth classes for many years.  With the movement to virtual classes, I thought it was time to brush off and update my Jeopardy game set and put it back into rotation.  I know we have all been working overtime to pivot to virtual activities, and personally, I wanted to find the easiest way to update the game and start using it.  I know the families in my classes would appreciate this fun method of presenting information but I did not have a lot of time to dedicate to the task.

I headed over to JeopardyLabs.com and started browsing games that others had already made and shared with the public on the topic of labor and birth.  When I found a version that I was mostly satisfied with, I used the edit feature to customize it for myself.  This allowed me to change anything that I wanted easily and quickly and then save my version for future use.  You do not to have an account to do this, nor do you need an account to host or play a game, and best of all it is free.  The steps to customize the game are simple with no tech skills required!  If you wanted to purchase an affordable lifetime membership, you get a lot more bells and whistles, such as being able to add images and more, but I have found the free version works just fine for my purposes.

Materials

• A jeopardylabs.com game link that you want your class to play. (It can be “off the shelf” or customized.  Here is the one I customized, you are welcome to use it, or edit as you see fit.)
• Your virtual class software platform (Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, MS Teams, etc)

How long does it take to play

I would allow a good 20-30 minutes for a full on game, including time for instructions, discussion and questions on topics that may come up.

When to use this in class

The great thing about this activity, is that it can be used to cover virtually any topic or set of topics you want.  Use it to introduce new information or as a review at the end.  It works well either way.

How to conduct the activity virtually on your meeting platform

Open the link to your JeopardyLabs board.  Share your screen so the class can see it also. I assigned everyone to be in one of three groups.  Several families would work together as a team.  Team 1 started and chose a spot on the board to begin.  I would click on their choice and read the answer. When anyone on any team “buzzed in” they announced they had the question (answer) by saying “Team 1” or “Team 2”, etc.  I would then give the person who “buzzed” time to answer in the form of a question.  Correct answers got that team the points (which you award via the game platform) and they would go again, choosing another square.  Wrong answers meant points were subtracted from the team score.

If they responded wrong, I would offer the other two teams a chance to answer.  This may not be the actual rules, but this is how I handled it.  Play continued like this until the entire board was played.  I was happy to answer questions or go into more depth if requested on any of the topics on the board.

How did the families respond

I have done this twice with families virtually recently, and it has gone over well both times.  Nearly everyone is familiar with the game and concept, and we all dive right in rather quickly.  I use it in the middle of an eight week series, and it is a nice change of pace.  People are competitive, those who would rather watch, than actively participate are able to do so, and they all have fun.

How you can modify this activity

The next thing I want to try in this virtual Jeopardy game realm is to invite the families to create the answers themselves, and I set up the game based on what they submitted.  I choose the topics and assign them a square or two across the board.  I would assign this task at the end of a class, and have them email their squares in time for me to set up the entire game for the next week.

Alternately, you can put them in breakout rooms and let them do an entire column (one topic) collaboratively.  Then, you can set it up for next class after they all pass you the information.

Either way, I think it gets them really thinking when they have to create the answers and questions.  You may have your own ideas on how you can modify this.

Conclusion

Playing games in class is a fun way to deliver new material or review previously covered topics. Using already created JeopardyLabs games is a very easy way to be up and running with this Jeopardy activity.  Editing and customizing existing games is simple and quick, or if you are feeling very inspired, creating your own game from scratch is not that difficult either, just a bit more time consuming.  Your families will appreciate this different twist on learning and you will have fun too!

If you do decide to create or edit a game, consider sharing the link in the comments below so we can all have many games to choose from.

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