Tara GarciaMathewson
@TaraGarciaM
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Education journalist. Translator of jargon and toddler Spanglish. Investigating tech in higher ed for @themarkup ([email protected]). @hechingerreport alum!
New York, NY
Joined April 2013
You’ve heard of book bans. School districts also censor the web. Some keep kids from LGBTQ+ resources but leave anti-LGBTQ content available. They block sex ed and abortion information. They make homework even more of a drag. Check out my latest:
themarkup.org
The Trevor Project? Blocked. Planned Parenthood? Blocked. NASA? BLOCKED
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Turnitin has been a staple purchase in #highered for decades, despite its rising cost, unsophisticated technology and highly problematic practice of demanding a perpetual license to any student writing its plagiarism and AI detector scans. https://t.co/PkIVniacbY
@sundaylongread
calmatters.org
Turnitin’s AI detectors are flawed and the company demands forever access to student papers.
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Very nice to have this project recognized. 🤩 I'm grateful to be part of a newsroom that comes together to produce work like this.
WINNER! Excellence in Technology Reporting, Small Newsroom: Digital Book Banning by @themarkup
https://t.co/VjiZBWPvAu
#OJA24
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Want to test out what categories your school blocks? Log into school wifi and click through our quiz:
themarkup.org
If you are a K-12 student, help extend our internet censorship investigation by connecting to your school’s wifi and clicking on websites to test them.
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The original series starts here:
themarkup.org
The Trevor Project? Blocked. Planned Parenthood? Blocked. NASA? BLOCKED
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I recently reported on school web filters getting in the way of homework and even keeping some kids from LGBTQ resources and sex ed. Here's the story of a teen who, with his family, raised ~$2M in venture funding to make a better filter:
themarkup.org
During early COVID lockdowns, a teen raised $1.8 million in venture funding and built a web filter with a team of data scientists and psychologists that he now hopes will help students safely surf...
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Classic @themarkup excellence in this piece: https://t.co/2RVCoh3SzF ace reporting by @ASankin and team, awesome visuals by @ghongsdusit and @JoelEastwood, one eye-popping finding after another about racial inequality in Michigan's insurance rates. Proud colleague over here!
themarkup.org
An investigation by The Markup and Outlier Media found lawmakers created loopholes big enough to drive through
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Most schools report the reason for each suspension to their state, choosing from a range of preset options. Despite those options, many essentially check "other," preventing real transparency. (My last story with Fazil, who died in February.)
hechingerreport.org
School officials cited a broad category — such as “other” — millions of times when suspending students. School discipline experts warn that these categories lack guardrails and can be used to justify...
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And if you are a student or have any young people in your life, ask them to take our interactive survey and share their results. We want to know the contours of blocking in even more districts: https://t.co/yAOAwnmdFX 5/5
themarkup.org
If you are a K-12 student, help extend our internet censorship investigation by connecting to your school’s wifi and clicking on websites to test them.
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ICYMI, the first part of the series is here: https://t.co/P9AFEf0VYB 4/5
themarkup.org
The Trevor Project? Blocked. Planned Parenthood? Blocked. NASA? BLOCKED
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School districts have to use filters, but they don't have to block as widely as they do. The latest in @themarkup's Digital Book Banning series is here: https://t.co/HNDTjLHS24 3/5
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A high school athletic trainer wanted to create a physical therapy routine for a student but couldn't log into @medbridge even though her district paid for her membership. It, too, was blocked. 2/5
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A teacher wanted her students to find connections between Emily Dickinson's poetry and her letters. The letters were online at @internetarchive but her district blocked the entire website over fears of adult content on some pages. She had to scrap the assignment. 1/5
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NEW DATA: Schools censor much of the web—and the practice is inhibiting students’ learning and even safety. The Trevor Project? Blocked. Planned Parenthood? Blocked. NASA? Blocked. With @USATODAY:
themarkup.org
The Trevor Project? Blocked. Planned Parenthood? Blocked. NASA? BLOCKED
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A beautiful tribute to a life cut so tragically short.
documentedny.com
Khan, a meticulous data journalist, was the sole death in Harlem apartment fire that injured at least 17 others.
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“Incredibly talented, charmingly humble and with a smile that melted the coldest of hearts, Fazil Khan was a spot of sunshine in this dreary, dark world. And he leaves it darker.” 💔
Farewell, Fazil @merefazildost. We’ll look you up in the stars. https://t.co/wcfqxOkPUE
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It’s hard to believe this tragedy is real.
We learned Saturday that The Hechinger Report’s data reporter Fazil Khan died in a fire in the New York City building where he lived. We are devastated by the loss of such a great colleague and wonderful person, and our hearts go out to his family. He will be dearly missed.
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Are we in the middle of a plagiarism war? With shots fired by @BusinessInsider and @BillAckman, and Claudine Gay a very visible victim at @Harvard, I add this bit of context about the tools making it all possible: https://t.co/ubmj6mikIi (h/t to @ibogost for naming the war)
themarkup.org
The tools that likely brought down Harvard president Claudine Gay are improperly used on students all the time
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Plagiarism is a subjective assessment. Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin’s don’t always make it seem that way. Read my latest about the tools that were likely behind accusations against Harvard’s Claudine Gay. Students deal with these all the time. https://t.co/ubmj6mikIi
themarkup.org
The tools that likely brought down Harvard president Claudine Gay are improperly used on students all the time
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And if you missed the story, bookmark that, too!
themarkup.org
A Markup examination of a typical college shows how students are subject to a vast and growing array of watchful tech, including homework trackers, test-taking software, and even license plate readers
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