PBS Kids App: Super Vision For Parents

I am so proud to be a PBS Kids VIP Parent (their pretty name for a brand ambassador). The biggest perk of this job is attending the PBS Annual Meeting which brings together PBS stations from around the country to introduce them to new shows, update them on how PBS is doing, and talk about issues they all share. Next week will be my third year in attendance, so watch for tweets from #PBSam for the latest news.

We also get updates throughout the year on whatever PBS Kids is up to, including a free app that was released this week called Super Vision.

When Dex was younger, the only site he was allowed to visit was PBS Kids. As someone who develops web sites myself, I would watch the PBS Kids tech team give talks at SXSW and feel incredibility confident in the experiences my son was going to have – that they were all centered on age appropriate learning that enhanced the educational materials from PBS and PBS Kids (who I have trusted my whole life).

But how to keep an eye on what Dex was up to, in an easy way? How to engage along with him and start his computer experiences more as a family, instead of separated parts? How could I help guide Dex’s learning without sitting right over his shoulder?

I wish the Super Vision app was available then!

With the PBS KIDS Super Vision App, parents enter a simple code on their mobile device to start receiving:

• Real-time information on what their child is playing, watching and learning on pbskids.org;
• The ability to remotely set a Play Timer from their mobile device that will put pbskids.org to sleep on their child’s screen, easing the transition from playing online to another activity, such as dinner time or bed time;
• Related activities that they can do with their child off-screen to extend the fun and learning goals of the games or videos their child plays on pbskids.org;
• An Activity Summary to view the top educational skills, shows, videos and games their child used on pbskids.org.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

I love the idea of being able to monitor time, but ALSO get feedback on what your child is up to so that you can talk about it AWAY from the screen. I think it’s a great way to ease children into the idea of limits for screen time, while also exploring other things they are interested in.

Yay PBS Kids! See you next week in San Francisco!