Card Game for Learning

Karl Kapp, Professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Every time you turn around, there is another technological innovation aimed at the world of higher education from smartphone delivered content to digital textbooks with interactive content to immersive learning experiences held in some form of the multiverse.

These technological innovations can be difficult to master and, while they can help make online learning more engaging, they can create barriers stifling student to student interactions and, even, instructor to student interactions.

This can be especially worrisome in the post-pandemic academic environment where students appear to be disengaged and recovering from the impact of the pandemic. Anecdotally, many faculty members are reporting having fewer students showing up in class, less enthusiasm about class activities, and receiving more and more late assignments.

One method some faculty have been using to engage students, is through games. Games, in various forms, have been used throughout the ages to educate military officers and soldiers, business leaders, production managers, workers in typewriter factories, medical students, and even politicians to name, but a few professions. In fact, game-based learning is not a new concept-some people believe it’s over 5000 years old.

What is relatively new is the advent of computer-based games for learning. It is only since the early 1970’s that computer-based games have come on the scene. Ever since schools, universities, and other academic institutions have been implementing games such as The Oregon Trail and Dragonbox to teach history, algebra and other subjects.

However, computer-based games can reinforce feelings of isolation or disengagement. When playing a computer-game, students aren’t always engaged directly with the instructor or fellow students.

In today’s digital age, sometimes the simplest pedogeological tool can be the most effective. One often overlooked game type for university and college instruction is the humble card game. Card games can be incredibly versatile and are easy to create. The best news is that card games can be used face-to-face in the classroom and, due to some recent technological advances, can be used for virtual classroom instruction as well.

Many people think of card games as being simplistic or basic like the classic game “Go Fish” or the game “Solitaire.” However, the appearance of simplicity is misleading. While many card games appear to be simple on the surface, simplicity and familiarity is what makes them powerful tools for creating learning. If you look closely, Solitaire can teach the value of thinking ahead or the lesson that no matter how careful or calculating you are, sometimes you just can’t win or, even the lesson that you shouldn’t rush a decision—it’s important to take your time and consider alternatives.

These are just a few lessons that can be divined from the “generic” version of Solitaire. Now imagine if you had added some creativity and the right content. Suddenly, you have a sophisticated and elegant method of teaching leadership, sales or empathy skills, history, philosophy or virtually any other subject. With little manipulation card games can be used to teach resource allocations, strategic thinking and critical thinking skills. The paradigm of a card game is highly versatile. Card games are a low-barrier, low-friction method of asking students to think deeply about subjects, topics, or ideas that they many not consider on a regular basis.

With dozens of print on-demand card game manufacturers on the internet, faculty members can take the content that they’ve taught for years and easily convert that content into a game. The game can be based on matching like “Go Fish” or on a collection of certain runs of cards like Poker or even based on a sorting paradigm. Card games can also be great for role-play learning where each card contains a different role the student portrays and peers evaluate the effectiveness of what the fellow student portrayed. These games can then be played in the classroom which provide and opportunity for student-to-student interactions, social connections and learning opportunities.

Online, the same feelings can be invoked with a digital version of card games. Each student has their own digital hand and plays in breakout groups where, again, social connections are made almost as if they were face-to-face. Software such as Card Forest, Dulst, or Enterprise Game Stack provide the opportunity to create and customize your own cards with your own content.

While card games are not a panacea for creating engagement, if you’ve ever played a card game and experienced the interaction, sharing and enthusiasm that comes from that experience, you know that card games, either online or face-to-face, can be powerful tools for evoking connections and engagement.

This is because card games have several advantages over more sophisticated or complicated games for learning. First, is that the card games are customizable, so it’s the faculty members own content and ideas on the cards. There can be a 100% match between what is on the cards and what is being taught. Second, is familiarity. Almost all students at one point in their life has played a card game.  Therefore, they know what the word “shuffle” means, what the word “deal” means. There is little time spent learning how to play the game, instead, they can focus on learning the content.

Finally, is simplicity. Contrast the universally known elements of a card game with sophisticated first-person learning games or multicharacter digital role play games and you can clearly see an advantage for card games. With card games, most are learned quickly and easily because there are a limited number of rules and complicated nuances. This makes it possible in a classroom situation or online for the student to quickly adopt the game eliminating long, complicated on-boarding or tutorials just so all students understand the rules.

It has been postulated that card games were invented as early as 940 AD, let’s leverage this tried and true delivery method to help make our face-to-face and our virtual classrooms more engaging, exciting, and, dare I say fun, for our students who now, more than ever, need the social connections and interactions that card games facilitate.