Class sessions · part of Parentech
The lesson is on. So is YouTube, in the tab behind it.
You set up the class, check the camera, leave them to it. Twenty minutes later there's a second tab and it isn't the class. A blocklist can't fix this, because the distraction is always the site you hadn't thought of yet. You are playing whack-a-mole and they have more time than you.
7 days free · then $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year for every computer in the house
What happens instead
Flip it around. A class in Parentech is a name, a length, and the two or three sites the lesson actually needs. Start it and those are the only sites that open. Everything else is a wall that says "class in progress". Tabs that were already open on something else get pulled in. It ends when the timer ends or when you enter your PIN, and not before. Then you get the report.
Exactly what it does
- Allows only the sites you listed, plus the sign-in pages a school account needs, so joining Meet or Classroom still works.
- Reloads tabs that were already open on other sites when the session starts, so nothing sits there untouched.
- Counts time on task, time off task and time away from the screen, and how many times attention left the class.
- Records every site that was turned away, with a count.
- Ends itself when the time is up, or when a parent enters the PIN. A child cannot end it.
Setting it up
Three steps.
1
Create a program: the class name, how long it runs, and the sites it needs, such as meet.google.com and classroom.google.com.
2
Start it from the child's computer, the toolbar, or your phone. A child can start a class; only your PIN can stop one early.
3
Read the report when it ends, on the computer or on parentech.app.
What it will not do
Said plainly.
- It guards Chrome on that computer. A phone under the desk is outside its reach.
- Time away from the screen means Chrome lost focus or the computer went idle. It cannot tell a bathroom break from a game on a tablet.
- It records the hostnames of sites turned away, never what was typed or read.
Questions parents ask
Before you install.
- What is the difference between this and blocking sites?
- Blocking says "never these". A class says "only these, for now". During a class every site that is not on the list is blocked, including ones you never thought to add. When the class ends, the normal rules return.
- Will my child be able to join the class?
- Yes. Parentech keeps sign-in pages open, so a school Google account can join Meet or Classroom. Add the class site to the program and the rest takes care of itself.
- What if the class runs long?
- Choose "no time limit" for the program. It then runs until a parent ends it, from the computer or from a phone.
- What is in the report?
- Minutes on task, minutes off task, minutes away from the screen, how many times attention left the class, each interruption longer than 20 seconds with its time, and every site that was turned away with a count.
- Can I start the class from my phone?
- Yes. Sign in at parentech.app, pick the computer, pick the program, tap Start. It begins within half a minute. You can end it the same way.