PBS Kids is giving parents an app to better connect with their kids, and keep an eye on how much screen time they’re getting. PBS Kids Super Vision (get it?) serves up real-time information on what a child is watching or playing, and for how long—provided the kids are spending their time on pbskids.org.
Parents can also pick a time to pause shows and games with full-screen messages such as “break time,” “time to eat” and “school time.” Super Vision not only displays what a child did on the PBS Kids website, it also shows summaries of the lessons taught in each game or show, and suggests related activities that parents can do with their children offline.
“Parents have told us for a while now that they want to know, ‘What did my kid play? What did they learn?’” Sara DeWitt, PBS Kids’ digital vice president, told the Journal. “That’s why we built Super Vision—to answer those questions and give parents tools to reinforce what their kids are learning.”
The whole thing works by syncing the Super Vision app with the PBS Kids website, which can be accessed via browser from a PC, Mac or even a mobile device. The site generates a code that you type into the app to connect the two. The pairing remains in place until the browser’s cookies and cache are cleared out. What’s important to note is that neither the app nor the website require any personal information for this pairing to take place. You can even do it without logging in.
DeWitt said that PBS wants to eventually make Super Vision compatible with the more than 30 other PBS Kids apps that are available. An Android version of Super Vision is also planned. The iPhone app is free for download in Apple’s iOS App Store.
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