APP OF THE WEEK: Paper by 53

APP OF THE WEEK: Paper by FiftyThree

Name: Paper by FiftyThree

Cost: Free (for basic edition. Upgrades can be purchased for between $1.99-$6.99)

App market: iOS

Link to the itunes store app website: Paper by FiftyThree

Link to the App’s direct website: FiftyThree

            Let me just say first that I have no drawing ability or talent to speak of. However, with this app I have found that I can produce pictures that are distinguishable; meaning that you can actually tell what I’m trying to draw! The app is very user friendly and allows for the user to use many different art mediums on the iPad. You can choose to paint with watercolor, draw with colored pencil, use an ink pen, marker or fine tip marker. The app comes with some very basic features, and you can purchase the add-ons from $1.99-$6.99. I personally opted for the full bundle because I’ve found many uses for this app in both my job as a school nurse and as a soon to be nurse educator.

            

          As a grad student and soon to be nurse educator, I’ve used this app more than once to produce storyboard pictures for video projects. I’ve posted the storyboard for my “Howto give an EpiPen” video below, just to give you an idea. For the same project, I designed a drawing learning activity, which asked the participants to draw certain things about the lesson…for example: draw possible food triggers of anaphylaxis…or draw the signs & symptoms of anaphylaxis. This idea came from this article on drawing in problem based learning.

            

         As a school nurse I can see application for this app with children. Particularly, I see students coming to the health office for many different reasons…sometimes, it’s because they are diabetic and need to retest their glucose after treatment. They have to sit around for 15 minutes, so why not give them this app and ask them to draw how they feel when they are low? When they are done, you can print what they’ve drawn and have the teacher post it in the classroom so she knows what to look for in the student as a nice visual reminder.

Tell me what you think in the comments….

·      How do you think you could use this app in your job (explain…are you a teacher, nurse, parent?)

·      What did you find as the strong points of the app?

·      What did you find were the weaknesses of the app?

·      How often do you think you’d use this app?