About World Wise App

4 parents, 8 kids, and 0 gaming + education apps

When we couldn’t find a middle ground for screen time, we created it

We all dream of the perfect family life – a life free of digital fixation, arguments over screen time, and talking back. But trust us – perfection is a myth.

We were four parents with 8 kids, and the battle over screen time was endless. But it became a battle we sometimes questioned. On those occasions where it just wasn’t practical or realistic for the kids to do their homework in the car while their siblings finished school or sports training, they would gravitate straight to some form of digital engagement. Why? Because their world is one where almost everything – from entertainment through to social connection – is based online.

Rationally, we know this. But those nagging parental responsibilities in the back of our minds remained, quietly ‘tut tutting’ with judgement. So, what did we do? As ‘responsible parents’, we battled it out. Until one day we realised that no matter how loudly we argued over screen time, nothing was changing.

There had to be a better way.

Hi – we’re Julie Samus and Tanya Alexander

We’ve lived the challenges of juggling work and children. With both of us self-employed, every day was a combination of frantically fitting in a full day of work within school hours with precise planning to fit in football, dancing, and other after-school activities for 8 children.

The boys would constantly be asking to use the iPad to play racing games all the time. And having them do homework in a parked car beside the footy field or dance studio every day while they waited for their siblings to finish? It was impractical (and impossible), so we’d often give in and let them play.

But the parental ‘screen time guilt’ would then rear its ugly head. Oh, the guilt! The more we talked about it, the more we realised we weren’t alone. What we needed was for them to be entertained while they learned; to play while also reinforcing what they were learning at school.

Nothing like this existed. So we decided to create it.

Not all screen time is created equal – World Wise makes it meaningful

Our mission? To develop Australia’s first app that combines learning with gameplay.

World Wise satisfies our children’s love of gaming with one major difference – it also takes their minds along for the ride.

It’s a wild ride designed to hold their interest via gameplay that’s entertaining, interactive and competitive… and based on the Australian curriculum. At the same time, us parents can finally offer screen time that’s both desirable and meaningful.

Personalise your car.

Race around the world.

Collect valuable tokens by answering short (and fun!) multiple-choice questions on math, science, English, geography, history and general knowledge topics.

It’s gaming so fun they don’t even notice they’re learning!

Our intent behind World Wise

The honest truth is this – we didn’t create World Wise to make a million dollars or encourage kids to spend hour after hour on devices.

We created it to fill a gap that we needed for our own children. We needed a bridge between screen time that adds no value and screen time that does.

It’s undisputable that devices are part of our children’s world, and technology is part of their future. But the biggest risk to that future is passive consumption of screen time that adds little or no value at all to them socially, emotionally, physically or mentally.

World Wise puts them (quite literally) in the driver’s seat. Bringing gaming and learning together lets them develop the skills, knowledge and digital literacy they need for today and tomorrow. And being based on the education curriculum, their play reinforces their classroom learning to make it relevant.

Ending the constant arguments over screen time has given our kids the opportunity to enjoy that time and us parents the ‘permission’ to quieten the inner critic whispering in our ear.

Because just like everything in life, it really is all about the right balance.

About Tanya Alexander and Julie Samus

Tanya Alexander and Julie Samus created the World Wise App, born from a need for busy families. With four children each, Julie and Tanya noticed how much downtime the kids had while waiting for siblings to ﬁnish school or training. Not being practical or easy to do homework sitting in the car, they set out to develop something that would entertain and educate.

Suitable for kindergarten to Year 10 students, World Wise transforms passive consumption into active engagement. With more than 15,000 questions aligned to the NSW education curriculum, it consistently challenges children as they play, maintaining their interest by developing as players do, with progressive learning to ensure they’re consistently challenged as they advance.

It’s a game changer – literally.