Ekaterina E. Klopotova

Background. The digitalization of education reaches the preschool level. AR books are increasingly used with children, yet their educational potential for preschoolers remains understudied, particularly how their appeal relates to children’s text comprehension.

Objective. To examine senior preschoolers’ comprehension of an informational text when reading an AR book versus books without illustrations and with traditional printed illustrations.

Sample. 120 senior preschoolers (M = 75 months): 60 aged 5 to 6 years and 60 aged 6 to 7 years, assigned to three groups of 40 by illustration format.

Methods. Non-participant observation during reading, an individual interview on the text afterwards (three open questions), and analysis of children’s drawings. Data were analyzed with the c² test; instruments underwent expert verification.

Results. During reading, verbal activity was highest in the AR group; however, many of these reactions concerned technological effects rather than the text content (c² = 10.74; p = 0.005). When answering questions, children with printed illustrations reproduced the factual content most fully, whereas the AR group relied more on personal experience. Printed illustrations also yielded the most accurate reflection of content in drawings (c² = 28.44; p < 0.001). No age differences emerged.

Conclusion. The effectiveness of AR books depends not only on their appeal but also on the match between visual content and text and on pedagogical support. For informational books, traditional illustrations ensure better comprehension. It justifies a differentiated approach to illustration format by text type and educational objectives.

This article presents the findings of research aimed at exploring the particularities of preschoolers’ drawing using both traditional (paper, pencils, markers etc.) and electronic (tablets) means. Children of preschool age participated in this project. Both participant observation and expert assessment were used for evaluating the drawing process and the products of the preschoolers’ artistic activity through electronic and traditional means. Melik-Pashaev’s “Skyline” method was used for participant observation. For expert assessment a 5-point scale was used to evaluate the children’s works from the perspective of their aesthetic appeal. The children’s behavior during drawing both on paper and on tablets were evaluated along with their pictures. A quality and quantity analysis of 26 electronically and traditionally drawn pictures by preschoolers was conducted. The data allows us to draw the following conclusion: that while children were equally interested in drawing on paper and on the tablets, the duration of drawing, emotional involvement, and engagement in the drawing process was higher when children drew on paper. Children get more pleasure and satisfaction from drawing on paper than from drawing on tablets. Children’s actions during drawing with tablets look more like experimentation than visual art. The experts’ quantitative assessment of factors like the existence of a subject, level of detail, and compositional perfection show better outcomes for pictures on paper than on tablets.