Choosito

Optimized internet search tool that curates content based on subject and quality and matches it to students' reading levels

Overview

Choosito! is an internet search assistant that filters content based on quality and subject matter and optimizes it for a particular student's reading level. Dr. Eleni Miltsakaki formulated the idea back in 2007 based on her Phd in linguistics and ten years of research into natural language processing. After her experience teaching Education Technology to teachers at the Graduate School of Education at UPenn, she co-founded Choosito! in 2009 to tackle " the challenges facing educators of the internet era.”

Students can use Choosito! to find the best quality links for whatever subject matter they are researching and only see ones that are tailored to their reading level. The system uses natural language processing to analyze the complexity of the syntax and vocabulary of each webpage and categorizes them into four difficulty categories (elementary, elementary+, Middle School+, High School+). This helps students find more accessible material that they can favorite to come back to later if they need it again.

Teachers can use admin functions to customize the search filters that their students can use or create a custom library of search results that are only accessible to their classroom or school. Teachers can use the Questbook feature to create and assign research based projects to their students or search through the database of projects by subject, rating, and grade level.