Thread by @karenraycosta

Okay here goes nothing. A new thread 🧵about #CourseHero.

My name's Karen, I've worked in #HigherEd for 20 years, and this is the absolute last thing I want to talk about today. But, I'm compelled in the face of what I see as immense harm being done to students.

Yesterday, I wrote a piece about Course Hero. You can read it here:
karenraycosta.medium.com/we-dont-need-a…

I want to be as transparent as possible and encourage you to take nothing I say at face value. Don't trust me. Trust what you see.
To that end, here's how I've profited thus far from talking about Course Hero, for any who might wonder about my motivations. $1.19.

I'm writing and tweeting and losing sleep and feeling sick about this because I see immense harm being done to students, and I predict more harms are coming. I suspect those harms are exploiting the most vulnerable students. I hope this concerns you too.

TLDR: a search for "my trauma" in @CourseHero has nearly 16 million results, many (most?) of them student papers disclosing severe traumas. Papers include names and identifying details.

Papers unlock access to CH.

CourseHero is reportedly worth 3.6 billion dollars.

Course Hero has a plan. They've outlined it here. #HigherEd, you're about to see an aggressive marketing campaign targeting faculty, staff, and admins. That's not my imagination. You can read about it here:

insidehighered.com/digital-learni…

"A focus on faculty"

Course Hero aims to build out their "educator portal." They're already courting faculty. That push is about to ramp up. Higher educators, I implore you to educate yourself about Course Hero and its current/potential harms.

cw: trauma, rape

A lot has been said about student agency. I want you to think deeply about the agency of students who receive "unlocks" in CourseHero for posting essays telling the story of their rape by a neighbor at age seven.

I am not going to post the link again, because despite the awareness it might raise, I fear the additional layers of harm being done to students who have shared stories of their trauma with identifying details attached. But there are millions of these on Course Hero's site.

If you want to talk about agency, let's talk about agency. And you can't talk about agency without talking about power. Who has the power here? Who is profiting?

Does a student who wants to earn an unlock have the power here or does the company worth 3.6B?

I see exploitation. What do you see?

Course Hero is ramping up and they'll be in your inbox soon if they aren't already. I implore people to use their privilege to speak up about this and to explore these issues around trauma disclosures and many other concerns relating to student and faculty harm.

I've seen some folks talking about this, but I hope to see more. This is an incredibly powerful, savvy, wealthy organization. #HigherEd faculty and #FacDev, I hope that you'll make time to educate yourself about these harms. I wish you didn't have to, but what's the alternative?

I want to circle back now to the @insidehighered article from last year.

Part of Course Hero's stated plan: "using the vast data at its disposal (in terms of the sorts of content and help students are looking for"

This is CHILLING.

insidehighered.com/digital-learni…

The search for "my trauma" kicks up nearly 16 million results. This is the "vast data" they're referring to, & it's the tip of the iceberg.

Do you think students are aware of the implications of the content they submit? Do you think they've read the terms of service? Do you?

I just took a moment to email @SenWarren about my concerns with Course Hero. I hope you'll join me. Senator Warren has been a tremendous advocate in fighting predatory companies in #HigherEd.
warren.senate.gov/contact/sharey…