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Sketchbook Express

Mindprint Rating

Tags

^Music, Art and Makerspaces All Ages iOS App

Skills

Organization Visual Discrimination Spatial Perception

Mindprint Expert Review

Pros

  • Option to set age limits access to social sharing.
  • Students with fine motor weakness are able to create artwork with fine lines and detail.
  • Free app has an extensive set of features that will be sufficient for children and non-professional artists.

Considerations

  • An adult should be available to help with instructions which may be difficult to read and somewhat confusing.
  • Students will need to invest some time upfront to appreciate all the app has to offer.
  • The app does not provide direction of what to draw, so unmotivated students may quickly abandon it without a specific project to complete.

Mindprint Expert Review

This excellent app offers a broad range of functionality for students to experiment and develop digital drawing and painting skills. It may be a particularly good choice for students with fine motor weakness to create detailed artwork without needing to grasp and control a pen or brush. The free app includes plenty of features including a large color palette, option to add text, shapes and symmetry, and less common features like opacity and layering. A paid upgrade will offer even more options for layers, brushes, and canvas sizes. Students are provided a blank canvas to create whatever they wish. They simply drag their finger to create sketches using brush styles, symmetry, layering, zooming, importing of photos, adding text, and using the transformation tool to view work in different sizes and angles. The tutorial can be confusing with the crowded pages, small font, multiple languages, and use of unfamiliar terms (radius, opacity, etc.). The number of feature option may excite some students and overwhelm others. However, with some trial and error or adult support students can get comfortable with the app reasonably quickly and really enjoy the breadth of options. Users can save work to the gallery or share it. Overall, although the app may be a bit complicated to learn, committed users will appreciate the many options to create detailed digital paintings and sketches.

Academic Benefits

Improves academic skills

  • Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
  • Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
  • Presents educational concepts accurately
  • Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
  • Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
  • Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
  • Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

Fun

Engaging for the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
  • Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
  • Visually appealing to children in the target age range
  • Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
  • Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
  • Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
  • Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

Easy to Use

Understandable for children in the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Has a free or trial version
  • Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
  • Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
  • Student should be able to use independently after first use
  • Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
  • Multiple users can save a profile
  • Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
  • Can play without sound and not distract others
  • Students can save work between sessions
  • Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
  • Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
  • Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
  • Overall - Easy to use

Cognitive Concerns

May not be advisable for students with the following cognitive needs

  • Organization
    • Problems or examples are not interesting for the target age range
    • Directions may be confusing for students using independently
    • Students might need support with navigation