Choosito

Filter expert-curated sites by grade and subject with safe search tool

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 1 review

Privacy rating

Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

3–9

Subjects & Topics

English Language Arts, English-Language Learning

Price: Free
Platforms: Web

Pros: Search safe, teacher-curated sites organized by grade level and subject area.

Cons: While there are more than 150,000 sites to browse, it's still not the same as researching using databases and other tools.

Bottom Line: An easy-to-use tool for safe online searching.

Teachers could have students conduct safe searches while reading articles customized to their reading level and subjects. Teachers should tell each student which reading level and subjects they should choose before searching, and they should note that sometimes it's best to choose two reading levels to sort through. Teachers should review what makes a good source while researching before students begin searching. Choosito suggests reviewing the five Ws (who, what, where, when and why) with students as a good place to start discussing what makes a good resource. Teachers can rate resources found in the Choosito library to show students what's reliable and useful. There's no dedicated teacher dashboard, but adding one would be useful as a tool for helping kids get specific directions on effective searching.

Choosito is a Web-based, customizable search engine specifically made for students to safely search classroom-ready topics. The sources on the site are curated by educational professionals, and teachers can rate the resources (although few resources have been rated thus far). Users can narrow their search results by choosing reading levels (the reading levels are early, emerging, fluent, and advanced). Users can also search by subject level. On the flip side, users can also expand the "related search" to see suggestions for other search terms or to find similar resources.

The site helps students effectively search for topics they want to learn more about in a safe environment, which is a huge plus for many educators, allowing them a little more control while students surf the Web. This is a helpful tool that makes research time all about research rather than about seeking kid-appropriate content. Students and teachers can (roughly) choose Lexile levels for students to sort through a library of trusted resources curated by educators. If they search the Choosito library but can't find what they're looking for, students can search the Web with a search engine powered by Bing.

Students will likely need supports from the teacher in order to make the most of their learning. Searching on its own can help students gain new knowledge, but it's ultimately up to the teacher to help guide students toward more deeper thinking. Choosito is, at its core, simply a safe search engine for finding resources about topics that might interest students.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

Choosito is an engaging product: It's both visually appealing and well organized. Students will engage with texts in meaningful ways because they can choose their reading level and subject. 

Pedagogy

Students can sort through sources, but it would be helpful to educate students on why these sources are authoritative and reliable. Sources can be transferred to papers and projects, and students can make meaning based on their reading level.

Support

At this time, there are few support or help options for users, but the site is relatively simplistic and easy to use. Learning could be supported outside of the site, but would need quite a bit of support and guidance from the teacher.

Community Rating

Choosito is an excellent resource. Choosito personalizes web content for students by reading level and subject while providing tools such as an evaluation and citation tool that will help provide enhanced inquiry based learning opportunities.

Overall, Choosito is a very valuable tool that teachers can use in their classrooms. It is very simple to hand a computer to a student and ask them to research a topic. With that being said, the student can easily get lost and will not have the appropriate skills needed to appropriately conduct research. Choosito filters and tools push for a more personalized and inquiry driven research approach that would benefit any classroom.

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Privacy Rating

Data Safety How safe is this product?

  • Users can interact with trusted users.
  • Personal information can be displayed publicly.
  • Unclear whether user-created content is filtered for personal information before being made publicly visible.

Data Rights What rights do I have to the data?

  • Users can create or upload content.
  • Processes to access or review user data are available.
  • Processes to modify data are available for authorized users.

Ads & Tracking Are there advertisements or tracking?

  • Personal information is not shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays traditional or contextual advertisements.
  • Personalised advertising is not displayed.

Continue reading about this tool's privacy practices, including data collection, sharing, and security.

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