instructor resources
If you haven't registered yet, start with sign up. If you have, the walkthroughs below cover every screen you'll use, on your side and on your students'.
getting started
| where to go | what it covers | reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| Sign up form |
Your school, the classes you're planning to use Sway in, and roughly how many students are in them. | Before anything else. Sway is free for college courses, and the team usually replies within two business days. |
| Creating your first assignment walkthrough |
Every screen of the setup flow and what each answer decides: the topic statements, the minimum chat duration, assignment or QuickMatch, and the three deadlines. | You have an account and you're about to set up a discussion. |
| Topic statements page |
Discussion statements that have worked well on Sway, grouped by subject, with what makes a statement worth arguing about. | You're writing the three to ten statements the setup asks for. |
| Managing a running assignment walkthrough |
The three tabs on the manage screen, offering a student a chat with Guide, suspending and reactivating an account, and the Export Results spreadsheet. | Your assignment has launched and students are chatting. |
| Managing a running QuickMatch walkthrough |
The QuickMatch Chats list, the on/off toggle, Force Matches, Force Completion, and the Export Results spreadsheet. | You're running a QuickMatch rather than an assignment with deadlines. |
what your students see
The walkthroughs above are your side of Sway. These are theirs, drawn for you, so you can answer a student's question without having taken the assignment yourself.
| where to go | what it covers | reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| Doing an assignment walkthrough |
The whole arc from the student's side: registering, the consent screen, the opinion survey, the chat and the progress meter, the understanding quiz, and the survey at the end. | A student asks what they're supposed to be doing. |
| Rescuing a stalled chat walkthrough |
A student emails to say their partner has gone quiet and the deadline is tomorrow. What you can do about it, and what both students see when you do. | It's the day before a deadline and your inbox says so. |
| Leaving a partner waiting walkthrough |
The automatic path when nobody writes back: the warnings Sway sends, the guide it offers the student left waiting, and the suspension at the end. | You need to know what happens without you. |
documents to share
| document | what it covers | who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Colleague overview |
A self-contained introduction to Sway: what it does, what a discussion assignment looks like, and what an instructor gets back. | A colleague in your department who has asked what you're using. |
| First-year orientation handout |
Sway as an orientation activity, and what running one takes. | Whoever plans orientation on your campus. |
| Sway for events |
Extending a debate, panel or dialogue with structured one-on-one discussions afterwards. | An event organizer. |
| Privacy policy page |
The consent document students are shown the first time they sign in, and what Sway does and doesn't share with you. | A student, a colleague, or an administrator asking what happens to the data. |
| Reports showcase page |
Real instructor reports from courses around the world — the analysis Sway returns once an assignment finishes. | Anyone who wants to see what comes back before committing to it. |
help and suggestions
| where to go | what it does | reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| Sway Instructor Assistant tool |
Answers most instructor questions and troubleshoots the common problems. If it can't help, it escalates your question to the Sway team. | Something isn't working and the walkthroughs don't cover it. |
| features@swaybeta.ai |
Goes to the people who build Sway. | You want Sway to do something it doesn't do yet. |
| Mailing list page |
Occasional notes about new features and milestones. Not frequent. | You'd like to hear when something changes. |
course language
Three blocks you can adapt for a syllabus or a course announcement. Each one copies whole; the MARKED words are the ones to replace with your own.
Sway as a required component
This semester, some of your assignments will involve discussions that take place on Sway, an educational chat app that's free for everyone in this class. Sway will pair you with a classmate and use AI to facilitate a discussion between you.
To create an account, visit: [REGISTRATION LINK]. Use your official [INSTITUTION NAME] email address to register.
Every Sway discussion assignment has two parts:
- Complete an opinion survey. You must complete the survey by the opinion deadline to be matched with a classmate. If you miss this deadline, you cannot complete the assignment.
- Chat with your partner. You must progress to 100% by the completion deadline and complete the brief understanding quiz at the end to receive credit for the assignment. The quiz assesses how well you understood your partner's viewpoint and reasoning.
You must message your partner no later than [X] hours after the opinion deadline. You and your partner should promptly agree on a plan for completing the assignment. Failing to contact your partner—or waiting until shortly before the completion deadline—prevents them from completing the assignment. If the platform detects that this has happened, your account will be suspended and you will need to contact me to participate in future assignments.
Privacy
Students should feel comfortable exploring and challenging even their most deeply held beliefs, so your chats are private; only you and your partner can read them. However, the platform automatically checks to ensure that you are broadly engaging with the topics that I assign. I will see the results of these checks and I will also see your scores from the brief Understanding Quizzes that you'll complete after each chat.
Opinion survey
Sway will send you an email receipt shortly after you complete the opinion survey. If you haven't received the email receipt, your opinions haven't been registered. Return to the platform and re-enter your opinions before the opinion deadline or you will not be able to participate. Ensure that your wi-fi or mobile network connection is stable and that you remember to use the "Submit" button at the bottom of the survey.
Timing
Chat length is determined by Sway's progress meter, which you'll see in the main chat window when you're completing an assigned chat. To make progress, both you and your partner must contribute to the conversation. Once your progress reaches 100%, you'll receive a personalized post-chat quiz. (You can continue chatting after completing the quiz.)
Sway chats aren't strictly timed, but you can expect them to last approximately [X MINUTES] if you complete the assignment in one go, sending messages back and forth at a normal pace. If you chat asynchronously, your chats will take slightly longer to complete. I suggest not focusing on the progress meter. Your chats will go best when you're focused on engaging in a real conversation.
Coordinating with your partner
While you and your partner might arrange a time to complete the assignment in one sitting (if you can, I recommend this), you can also complete it across a few sittings or by exchanging messages asynchronously at your own pace. Just make sure to turn on notifications for new messages!
Your progress percentage isn't about how much you write—it's about how well you're having a real conversation with your partner. Think of it like talking with someone in person where you naturally take turns and respond to what they say.
How to make good progress
- Have a real conversation: send a message, then wait for your partner to respond before you continue.
- Actually respond to them: don't just state your own views—talk about what they said.
- Keep responses focused: avoid writing mini-essays; aim for thoughtful but conversational responses.
- Both people should talk equally: make sure you're both contributing to the discussion.
If you're stuck at 95% completion, this usually means you need more genuine back-and-forth conversation. Check if you've been:
- Sending several messages in a row without waiting for your partner.
- Only talking about your own ideas instead of responding to theirs.
- Writing long speeches instead of having a conversation.
What doesn't work:
- Don't send lots of quick, short messages just to seem more active.
- Don't write extremely long responses that don't leave room for your partner.
- Don't ignore what your partner said and just keep pushing your own point.
Viewpoint diversity
Sway will automatically pair you with a classmate based on your answers to the opinion survey. It aims to match you with a student who disagrees with you. However, sometimes you might be paired with a classmate who agrees with you. In this case, either you or your classmate will be tasked with playing devil's advocate (i.e., arguing for the side you don't personally believe).
Sample assignment announcement
Topic focus: [ABORTION AND BODILY AUTONOMY]
Opinion deadline: [JAN 23, 11:59 PM]
Completion deadline: [JAN 28, 11:59 PM] (including quick post-chat quiz)
Minimum approximate chat duration: [45 MINUTES]
Remember, if you miss the opinion deadline, you will not be able to participate in this assignment.
To enter your opinions, log in at chat.swaybeta.ai before the deadline. If you haven't already created your account on Sway, leave yourself a few extra minutes to do so.
Sway will attempt to match you with another student who disagrees with you on a topic. Occasionally, however, you might be matched with a classmate who agrees with you. In such cases, either you or your classmate will be chosen to play devil's advocate (i.e., argue for the side you don't personally believe). Sway's Guide will be there to make sure the devil's advocate formulates the strongest possible counterarguments.
Enter your opinions and get started as soon as you like—just visit chat.swaybeta.ai.
Sway as an optional component
To give students more opportunities to discuss course materials outside of class, I've made Sway freely available to you.
Sway is a chat platform, similar to WhatsApp or iMessage, but it's specifically designed to facilitate meaningful discussions on controversial topics. It is part of an educational research project run by Disagree Wisely, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization; you can learn more about it at www.swaybeta.ai.
You can create an account at go.swaybeta.ai/register using your official school email address. Once registered, you'll see a list of topics, including:
- [EXAMPLES OF SOME TOPIC STATEMENTS THAT STUDENTS CAN CHAT ABOUT]
When you create an account, Sway will automatically pair you with other students from our class who hold different perspectives. The goal is to explore topics and deepen your understanding by engaging with someone who sees things differently. I'll periodically add new discussion topics to our class's Sway chats.
This is an optional component, but I believe that having serious discussions with people who don't share your perspective should be an essential part of your education. Often, it's also rewarding on a personal level, so I hope you'll try it.
[IF YOU WISH TO GIVE STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO EARN BONUS CREDIT BY PARTICIPATING, YOU CAN MENTION THE DETAILS HERE.]