Check out our new student feedback page as well as sample instructor reports!
Students who use Sway can volunteer to participate in our research. The first time a student logs in, they are presented with the consent document below. If a student does not consent, we cannot use their de-identified data in our research; however, they can still access Sway for use in their classes.
This research aims to improve the quality of student discussions
Your participation is voluntary, and you may discontinue at any time
Your school email is used for verification and login purposes only
Your chats are encrypted and private by default
Your data is not used for training artificial intelligence (AI) models by default
You control what information is shared with your instructor
You can delete your account at any time
Use of your email address
We use your school email to:
Verify your enrollment at a participating school
Allow you to login to Sway
Allow you to reset your password
By default, your email and preferred first name are NOT visible to your instructor.
If you allow your instructor to verify that you have used Sway, then they can:
Verify that you completed an assignment
View your scores from Sway quizzes
View metadata about your platform use (e.g., message counts, chat durations)
View non-identifying results of natural language processing on your chats (e.g., whether you and your partner remained on topic)
However, under no circumstances will Sway present your messages or show how they were classified to your instructor.
Sway encrypts all student data in transit using TLS 1.2+ and at rest using AES-256. Messages you send are only decrypted (readable) when:
You use the app or
You allow the use of your de-identified message contents for education research
When your messages are de-identified, no information about you is stored with the message contents. Messages are not linked to your identity and are never used to train commercial AI models. If you allow research use, you can later revoke permission by updating your choice under settings.
Because only you and your discussion partners can access your chats, to share a chat record with your instructor, you must export it as a PDF file. Instructions will be provided
If your instructor wants to review your chat, they will tell you how they would like you to submit the PDF export
You can delete your account at any time (this cannot be reversed)
We recommend checking with your instructor before deleting your account
Your message contents are processed using application programming interfaces (APIs) from OpenAI and Anthropic
Data sent to OpenAI and Anthropic might include your preferred first name
OpenAI and Anthropic delete data transmitted over their API within 30 days
OpenAI and Anthropic do not use your message contents to train their models or improve their service
Currently, this platform does not support push notifications. However, you can choose to receive notifications through SMS messages. Getting notifications on your phone can make it easier to coordinate with your chat partners on assignments. If you do not enable SMS notifications, you can still get notifications through email.
If you opt in to SMS notifications, your phone number will be shared with our U.S. messaging provider Twilio. It will not be shared with any other parties. If you decide to disable SMS notifications, you can either send STOP from your phone or adjust your settings.
When we view your information, you are identified by a random ID that is not connected to your email address or preferred name. We can view your:
Survey and quiz responses
Metadata about your platform use (e.g., message counts, chat durations)
Feedback you provide to us by clicking thumbs up or down on content that we generate for you or by using other feedback functionality
Non-identifying results of natural language processing on your chats (e.g., whether you and your partner remained on topic)
We collect anonymized data on how you interact with the platform.
This data includes information such as the time spent on different pages, navigation patterns, and interactions with platform features
The data is collected in an anonymized format, and your personal information is not linked to this usage data
The purpose of this data is solely to analyze platform performance and improve future versions of the platform.
While the precautions described in this document should protect your privacy and put what you share in your hands, no system is perfect and there is always a risk of breach of confidentiality.
Ample evidence indicates that scaffolded discussion can help students better understand course materials and develop their ability to engage in constructive discussions of challenging topics. We therefore expect AI-scaffolded discussions to provide you with educational benefits.
Accessing the platform requires an internet connection; however, because the platform only receives and transmits text data, any additional fees you may incur should be negligible. You will not receive any compensation for participating.
Sway uses AI models that are generally reliable for their intended purposes.
However, like all AI systems, these models can occasionally:
Produce incorrect or inconsistent information
Misunderstand context or nuance in complex discussions
We recommend:
Critically evaluating AI-generated content
If you notice any concerning AI behavior, report it to your instructor directly or through the app's feedback feature.
Dr. Simon Cullen
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh
(412) 268-8568
cullen@cmu.edu
If you have questions about your rights as a research participant or if you want to report concerns about this study, you should contact:
The Office of Research Integrity and Compliance at Carnegie Mellon University.
Email: irb-review@andrew.cmu.edu
Phone: 412-268-4721
Your participation in this research is voluntary. You may refuse or discontinue participation at any time without loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
SELECT ALL THAT APPLY:
▢ I have read and understood the above information
▢ I am at least 18 years old
▢ I allow my instructor to verify that I have completed Sway assignments
▢ I allow educational research use of my anonymized message contents
