Across American colleges and universities, educators increasingly recognize that the ability to engage disagreement constructively represents a core civic competency. Faculty members report that classroom discussions on complex social and political questions often become polarized or unproductive, leaving instructors searching for new ways to help students engage opposing perspectives thoughtfully. Reporting in The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights a growing effort within higher education to address this challenge through innovative technology designed to support civil discourse and intellectual pluralism.
One such effort centers on Sway, an artificial intelligence–assisted dialogue platform developed by researchers studying disagreement and deliberation. The tool facilitates structured, text-based conversations between students who hold opposing viewpoints. During these exchanges, the system analyzes participants’ language and offers suggestions that encourage respectful argumentation and clearer reasoning. For example, when a student frames a response in a way that attributes motives or escalates conflict, the platform prompts the user to focus instead on evidence and argument. According to Simon Cullen, one of the tool’s creators, the AI system focuses primarily on “argumentation,” helping participants clarify their claims, identify points of disagreement, and evaluate supporting evidence.
Early classroom experiences suggest that this type of structured dialogue can meaningfully improve student engagement. The Chronicle report describes how instructors across institutions—from the University of California, Los Angeles to Fullerton College and the University of Pennsylvania—have incorporated Sway into courses addressing topics ranging from gender and immigration to free speech and political conflict. Faculty members report that students often enter subsequent classroom discussions better prepared and more willing to engage competing perspectives thoughtfully. One instructor noted that the platform helped maintain constructive conversations in virtual classes, while another observed that students gained confidence in expressing their views while remaining attentive to the reasoning of others.
To support this emerging approach to civic learning, AVDF awarded a $341,647 grant in 2025 to Heterodox Academy, an organization dedicated to advancing viewpoint diversity and open inquiry in higher education. The funding will help scale the use of Sway across colleges and universities while supporting continued research on its educational impact. To date, 78 institutions have used the platform. With support from AVDF, the project team aims to reach at least 10,000 students by the end of 2026, while expanding institutional partnerships and exploring applications in courses, orientation programs, residential life initiatives, and online learning environments.
In addition to expanding access, the grant will support the development of a mobile version of the platform, enabling students to participate through iOS and Android devices. The project team will also analyze data generated through student interactions in order to refine the tool and strengthen its performance. A large-scale research study will evaluate how sustained engagement with structured dialogue influences students’ openness to opposing viewpoints, their understanding of competing arguments, and their confidence in navigating disagreement.
Preliminary findings already point to encouraging outcomes. Early participants report higher levels of agreement with statements such as “I can understand people who disagree with me” and “People with different views have thoughtful reasons for their perspectives.” Students also report highly positive experiences with the platform: more than 80% describe their conversations as good or excellent, and over 90% indicate they felt comfortable expressing their honest views. These results suggest that thoughtfully designed digital tools can strengthen a skillset that educators increasingly view as essential for democratic participation.
As John Churchill, AVDF Vice President of Grants and Programs, explains, “We at AVDF are proud to be supporting this work. The Sway team has already developed an excellent tool, and instructors at dozens of colleges and universities are already using it. The funding from this grant, along with the partnership with Heterodox Academy, should result in thousands more students benefiting from Sway in the near term.”
To read the full articled published by The Chronicle of Higher Education and written by Aisha Baiocchi, click here. For more information about Sway, click here.
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