Emotions expressed by students in interactive drawing classes with digital tablets

Introduction. This work reports a comparison of the expression and communication of students’ emotions in two situations: (a) drawings made in interactive classes using tablets and styluses, and (b) drawings made by individuals on their own using conventional materials, during a stage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Method. An experimental method was implemented with 180 schoolchildren in a Spanishspeaking city in Latin America, classified into two groups by age (M (3-4) = 3.5 years / M (8-10) = 9.8 years). Tablets, styluses, paper and pencils were used to produce drawings. A filtering stage produced 860 drawings for analysis across both methods. The evaluation was carried out with a rubric based on the Fury scale. The gradualness and emotional valence of the content were then analysed. Results. The drawings made in interactive classes by children who used tablets and styluses were more expressive and better communicated emotion compared to the drawings made individually. Emotional valence was mostly positive. The data reveal better gradualness and transparency of emotions in older children regardless of the type of emotion. Discussion and Conclusions. The expression of emotions in drawing engages with cognitive objectives when there are cognitive interrelationships in class. Making more representative drawings will depend both on the opportunities that technology offers the subject and on the degree of interactivity. Signs of emotion in tablet drawing (depth and clarity) can be improved by self-assessment by subjects who receive feedback from others.