About 50% of employers report that even college graduates lack the critical thinking and communication skills essential for workplace success—a gap that begins much earlier in students' educational journey. Students are struggling with the dialogue and reasoning competencies that employers, colleges, and communities desperately need.
We are seeking partners to help us develop Sway Classroom, a platform that meets these needs by providing middle and high school students with structured, AI-scaffolded practice in constructive disagreement—building the communication and critical thinking skills that students need throughout their academic careers and lives.
Sway Classroom builds on the success of Sway at over 100 colleges and universities. The platform connects student pairs who disagree over topics chosen by their teacher and uses AI to facilitate open, thoughtful conversations—helping students develop the dialogue and critical thinking skills they need across all subject areas.
An AI Guide participates in every chat, de-escalating tense moments, ensuring students aren't talking past each other, and making sure everyone's voice is heard. Guide improves student reasoning by posing challenging questions, prompting students to clarify vague arguments, uncovering implicit assumptions, and providing relevant information.
When a student composes a message with unconstructive language, the platform suggests a more effective way to convey their point. This provides immediate feedback to help students develop habits of clear, respectful communication while preserving their core meaning.
Teachers can use Sway Classroom wherever students need to clarify their values, engage with diverse viewpoints, and develop critical thinking.
Students can discuss constitutional principles, current events, or policy debates—building civic reasoning and identity, empowering them to articulate their perspectives, and develop respect for difference.
Students can discuss historical events, controversies, and figures—deepening their historical knowledge while developing their own perspectives.
Students can engage with controversial themes in literature, debate character motivations, or explore different interpretations—strengthening argumentation, textual analysis, and communication skills.
Students can explore ethical dimensions of scientific topics like climate change, genetic engineering, or animal testing—developing skills in evaluating evidence, reasoning about uncertainty, and considering societal impacts.
Students can practice perspective-taking, empathy, self-awareness, and emotional regulation while discussing topics that matter to them.
Our goal is to make Sway Classroom free, and it is designed to be easy for teachers to use.
The platform automates administrative tasks: it solicits student opinions, pairs students who disagree, notifies students of new messages, reminds them of deadlines, and administers post-chat quizzes to assess students' understanding.
To encourage free expression, chats are private and encrypted—teachers can't read them. However, Sway provides high-level summaries and common themes in instructor reports.
Sway's AI Guide blocks slurs, personal attacks, and insults that hold no value for furthering discussion, keeping conversations constructive and respectful.
Since mid-2024, thousands of college students have used Sway to discuss highly contentious topics. These results demonstrate the platform's potential for younger learners.
We are seeking partners to help bring Sway Classroom to life. Whether you represent a school, school district, educational organization/agency, or funder, we'd like to explore how we might work together to adapt this platform for middle and high school students.
Develop standards-aligned discussion topics and teacher resources.
Pilot Sway Classroom with your students and teachers.
Study the developmental and educational impacts of the platform.
Help ensure that Sway Classroom is free for schools.
Whether you are interested in partnering with us or simply staying informed about Sway Classroom, join our contact list or reach out directly.
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