Comparing reading comprehension between children reading augmented reality and print storybooks

Reading in early ages can be a challenge due to difficulties in recognizing new words and may result in lack of proper comprehension of the text. To address this problem, technology has been used in the form of electronic books and more recently Augmented Reality (AR) books. In this study, we measure reading comprehension of children reading an AR storybook and compare it with their counterparts reading the traditional print version of the same book. Reading comprehension was tested in this study by measuring children’s ability in retelling and recalling of the story. A quasi-experimental methodology was employed with post-test only design. The participants were 34 children aged 7 to 9 in Tehran (Iran) which were randomly assigned to either experimental or control group and read the print storybook with and without a tablet. Participants were asked to retell the story and answer comprehension questions right after reading the storybook. Children were observed during storytelling and interviewed. Mann-Whitney test was used for data analysis. The results showed a significant difference between the control and the experimental groups in terms of overall reading comprehension. Children who experienced augmented storybook were better in retelling and answering comprehension questions. However, this was not the case in all subcategories, as there was no significant difference between the groups in retelling theme and setting. Also, the experimental group scored higher in answering implicit questions. Overall, the presentation of related multimedia content with the print storybook will result in improvement in reading comprehension. Possible explanation and implications are discussed.