An inmate in Georgia told The Marshall Project he uses a contraband phone to teach other prisoners. The Harvard professor told Insider he's received thank-you notes from prisoners who took the class. Malan told Insider over email that he's received thank-you notes from students in prison over the years. In addition to inmates taking online classes like the man in Georgia, some pose as regular students in online classes, something that online learning through Zoom allows. An incarcerated man in California told The Marshall Project that prisoners "have to acquire contraband phones from the people who are supposed to be watching us.

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