If there’s something that every student has to deal with in their life, it is nothing other than homework and tests. And not every student has a knack for studying. Sometimes, even an easy concept can feel overwhelming to comprehend.
At times like these, online study platforms like Course Hero prove to be life-savers. But like many other platforms, Course Hero is a freemium platform. That means it has limitations in its free version.
One such limitation is the blurred study material. Students with the free version of Course Hero face this problem when they open a document; a part of it appears blurry. This is actually a restriction by the platform to compel students to buy the premium version.
But Course Hero is also student-friendly, so they give a couple of options for you to unlock the required content. But what are these options, and how do you use them?
In this article, we will understand what exactly Course Hero is, its features, and how to unblur Course Hero with five easy methods.
What is Course Hero?
Course Hero is a study platform dedicated to helping students around the globe by providing them with top-notch study material.
Whether it is homework that needs to be completed or an upcoming exam that needs to be prepared for, Course Hero has the study material you need to get the job done.
Around 20 million users already use the platform, including education institutes around the globe. Students can find in-depth explanations and expert solutions to all sorts of problems that need solving.
It covers a plethora of subjects, from mathematics to history, so that every field’s students have the answers they need. What’s even more interesting is the fact that a student can get their required question answered within only 15 minutes.
Now that we understand what Course Hero is, let’s take a look at some of its features.
Features
Course Hero is a user-friendly platform with easy-to-use features so that students can study effectively. Below are some of the features that make this platform an excellent choice for studying.
Ask Multiple Questions at Once
Suppose you need answers to multiple questions and problems and need to understand a lot of concepts to prepare for an exam. At this point, searching for solutions to individual questions and stumbling upon further tangents can be hectic.
Course The hero has a solution. It allows students to submit a written document with as many of the problems they need to solve as possible. It minimizes the need to search for a single question. Now all you have to do is upload a document containing the problems, and there you go!
Drag & Drop Documents
There’s hardly anything easier than dragging and dropping an icon on a computer. Course Hero has a drag-and-drop document feature that allows students to drag the required documents anywhere from the computer to the website.
It helps students easily submit their documents and their contents. Course Hero analyzes the document and provides the student with the necessary study material.
Type your Questions
If students don’t have a document prepared, they can simply use the typing bar to type the question into it. Course Hero understands the question, searches for possible solutions, similar questions, and documents within its library, and gives the study material.
AI Assistance
Course Hero has artificial intelligence software that answers simple and complex questions students might have. Students who would like to get their questions answered immediately or just want to learn more about a subject can get AI’s immediate help to finish their homework on the go.
Get Answers from Experts
Many topical experts use Course Hero to help students around the world study better. Students can get answers to their questions from experts in their respective fields in 15 minutes.
Step-by-Step Explanations
Course Hero provides step-by-step explanations to help students understand difficult concepts easily. It breaks down a complex topic into different steps so that students can understand them easily.
Find your School Courses
Another great feature of Course Hero is that it can help students search for courses from their respective schools or institutes. Students can access and learn from the specific course materials prepared by their institutes.
How to Unblur Course Hero?
There are 4-5 methods to unblur Course Hero documents, and the easiest one is to buy the Course Hero subscription. Some free methods include uploading helpful and original documents, reviewing materials, creating quizzes, and using the Inspect element on Google Chrome (which doesn’t work anymore).
Method 1: Uploading Original Documents
Course Hero has a rewarding system that rewards you with a currency called Unlock Credits. Unlock credits are used to unblur documents and study materials.
In the free version of Course Hero, one of the methods to earn unlock credits is by uploading your original study materials. Your documents can be helpful study material. Uploading documents will allow you to unblur study content without a subscription.
Do note that the unlock credits last 30 days and can be used to unblur any documents except promotional, educator, and bonus unlocks. For every 10 documents uploaded successfully, you obtain 5 unlock credits.
Using this method, users can unlock required documents without subscribing.
Steps to uploading original documents:
Following are the steps to upload your original documents to Course Hero.
- Visit the official Course Hero website.
- Log in or set up a Course Hero account.
- Find the document you would like to unblur.
- Click on Upload for Unlocks Or scroll down the document and click on the View full document option.
- If you click on View full document, you will see an additional screen of Course Hero’s subscription plans. Click on the Upload Now button to continue.
- Next, you have to enter and select your institution’s name in the bar that reads “Enter your school name.”
- After selecting your institution, tap Add Documents or drag-and-drop your document inside the box. Supported formats include doc, docx, pdf, ppt, xls, and others as indicated.
After uploading your document, it will take one or two working days to check and approve your document. Until that time, you will need to wait. If Course Hero approves your document, you will be notified.
Uploading Guidelines
When you upload a document to Course Hero, an automated system checks and reviews your work. Course Hero has an honor code that says your study material should reflect quality and uniqueness.
So, the documents you upload have to be unique and original. That means no copy-pasting because duplicated and low-quality material may get rejected.
Method 2: Rate Materials Uploaded by other Students
If the first method is not viable for a user, they can still unblur documents through other means. For example, you can rate study materials uploaded by other students.
All you have to do is review others’ works and give feedback to the platform. Course Hero aims to improve and maintain the quality of documents that are uploaded on the platform. And students’ feedback is one effective way to assess the quality of a work.
After reviewing several documents on the platform, you’ll be given unlock credits.
Method 3: Creating Quizzes for others
Creating quizzes is another great way to unblur Course Hero materials. It’s an easy way to access restricted content. However, creating a quiz requires you to successfully upload three documents on the platform.
The more interactions your quiz gets, the more unlock credits you will receive.
Method 4: Using Inspect Element on Google Chrome
I know a lot of people may have read about this method for unlocking blurred content, but it is no longer functional. Users, until January 2023, could access the hidden content by using this hack, but after that, it was patched.
But some users report that this method still works for some documents, specifically older ones. So, if you want to try your luck using this method, here is the process:
- Visit the official Course Hero website.
- Find and open the document you want to unblur.
- Right-click on the document, and a pop-up menu will appear. Scroll down in the pop-up menu and click on Inspect. A new window on Chrome will open.
- Click on the Sources tab.
- Now expand the folder called doc-asset. Do the same for the folders starting with “bg/” and “blur/.”
- Right-click on the file names, such as “split-#-page-#.html-bg.jpg,” and click on Open in new tab. If you cannot find any file names with the.html-bg part, this method won’t work.
- Locate -html-bg within the URL of the blurred document and remove it. Again, if you cannot find the -html-bg part in a URL, you cannot unblur that specific document.
- After erasing the -html-bg, press Enter. If you’re lucky, it will unblur Course Hero content.
- Now find the split-0 part in the URL and replace it with split-1 by typing.
- Press Enter again to unblur the rest of the document.
Method 5: Using Referral Links
Another helpful way to unblur Course Hero content is by using referrals. Users can even unlock the premier version of Course Hero by using referral links. Here’s everything you need to know.
So, what are Referral Links?
Referral links are simply links that you send your friend to share the Course Hero platform with them. All referral links are unique. So, each link you send to your individual friends will be credited back to you.
How does a Referral Link help Unblur Content?
A referral link works if a friend of yours uses your link to sign up to Course Hero and subscribe to a Premier Subscription. They can become a premier member by either subscribing or uploading the required number of documents.
Once they become Premier members, you get access to one month of free Premier membership.
Guidelines for Sending Referral Links:
Here are some helpful guidelines for sending referrals. Make sure you meet these requirements for your referral link to work:
- Your friend must sign up using that link and during the same session. For context, a session means the time a user spends browsing a website after first arrival.
- Your friend must activate the Premier membership either by subscribing or uploading the required number of documents.
- Your friend may get a 20% discount if they use a referral code. But this 20% discount is only applicable to certain subscriptions that can be purchased for the first time. After that, all pricing will be normal.
- A maximum of 36 friends can earn you the premier subscription this way. This equals 3 years of Premier membership.
- Your referral links should only be sent via your personal social media networks like Instagram, Facebook, e-mail, etc. A referral link should not be sent via someone else’s network.
- Finally, Course Hero reserves the right to suspend or terminate this offer at any time.
What is The Subscription Plan For Course Hero?
Course Hero has diverse subscription plans. It offers two different types of basic plans: Hero Trio and Premier. Let’s take a look at both.
Premier vs Hero Trio
The Premier version of Course Hero has cheaper subscription plans as compared to Hero Trio. It is like a basic version of the platform.
The main difference between the two versions is that the Hero Trio gives access to a couple of helpful tools, namely Quillbolt and Symbolab. Here’s how students can utilize these tools to study more effectively:.
- QuillBot is a grammar-checking tool that is mainly used to paraphrase and grammar-check written work. It works similarly to the renowned software Grammarly.
- Symbolab is a tool used to solve math problems. It can help students with their mathematics problems, such as graphing, geometry, and word problems.
The Premier Version can be unlocked either by subscribing or by uploading the required number of helpful documents. Now, let’s take a look at the pricing of both versions: Premier and Hero Trio.
Premier Pricing:
The Premier version is less expensive as compared to the Hero Trio one.
| Course Hero – Premier Version Pricing | |||
| Subscription Type: | Annual | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Total Price: | 119.40 USD | 59.85 USD | 24.95 USD |
| USD billed per month: | 9.95 USD | 19.95 USD | 24.95 USD |
Note
Pricing may be subject to change with time.
Hero Trio Pricing:
The Hero Trio version is more expensive as compared to the Premier version.
| Course Hero: Premier Version Pricing | |||
| Subscription Type: | Annual | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Total Price: | 143.40 USD | 71.85 USD | 29.95 USD |
| USD billed per month: | 11.95 USD | 23.95 USD | 29.95 USD |
Conclusion
Course Hero is a study platform designed to help students around the world study. It features a huge library of study resources uploaded by institutes, students, and experts all around the world.
But Course Hero is a freemium platform, which means it is not completely free. The free version allows students to access multiple study materials at the expense of earning and spending unlock credits.
Students with limited study resources can unblur Course Hero study materials by completing several tasks, such as uploading study documents, rating other students’ work, and creating quizzes.
Another trick that is used to help unblur the study material is by using the Inspect element on Google Chrome. But it is no longer functional and cannot be used.
But students can still unlock a lot of documents by making an effort to earn the unlock credits and continue studying.