As Vice President of PBS KIDS Digital, Sara DeWitt oversees day-to-day development of PBS’ multiplatform content for kids and families, including the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning PBSKIDS.org.
DeWitt has led innovative strategies to build connected and immersive educational experiences for kids across media platforms. This includes PBS’ preschool (PBSKIDS.org) and early elementary school age (PBSKIDSGO.org) websites, which reach over 13 million unique visitors per month and offer more than 500 games and activities. Named one of the “50 Best Websites 2012” by TIME.com, PBSKIDS.org continues to be one of the top entertainment sites for kids and the leading site for kids video streams.
In addition, DeWitt has led the extension of PBS KIDS content into new frontiers – from mobile apps and interactive whiteboard games, to augmented reality and 3D-rendered gaming experiences. She has supported the development of PBS KIDS’ suite of more than 20 educational mobile apps, which have been downloaded over 3.1 million times. DeWitt had an integral role in the launch of the PBS KIDS Video app offering more free educational video content on mobile than any other children’s media brand. The app was recently named one of the “50 Best Video Apps for Parents” by Babble. DeWitt extended PBS’ leadership in using augmented reality as an educational tool by partnering with WGBH to launch Fetch! Lunch Rush, an app that blends the virtual and real world to promote math comprehension in kids ages six to eight.
Having joined PBS in 1999, DeWitt has worked with the PBS KIDS producer family on a variety of award-winning television program sites, such as CURIOUS GEORGE, SUPER WHY, ARTHUR, and WORDGIRL. DeWitt has also overseen production of nationally-recognized web-original projects on PBSKIDSGO.org, such as CHUCK VANDERCHUCK’S “SOMETHING SOMETHING” EXPLOSION, OH NOAH!, and FIZZY’S LUNCH LAB. A frequent speaker on multimedia approaches to learning for kids, DeWitt has presented at renowned conferences including SXSW, Games for Change, and the Sandbox Summit.
Before coming to PBS KIDS, DeWitt worked as a preschool teacher and a management researcher. She studied media habits of children in rural United States for the Stanford University Spencer Project for Youth and Families, and co-authored with Dr. Shirley Brice Heath a study for the Poynter Institute on youth and newspapers. She holds both a BA and an MA in English from Stanford University, and a certificate from Stanford’s Children, Society, and Public Policy program.