Soapbox offers an AI‑supported platform that lets educators assign, run, and assess live virtual debates, bringing human reasoning back into classroom learning. The tool scales 1:1 debate across any discipline— from political theory to organic chemistry—enabling students to research, defend, and critique ideas in real time, which research shows improves exam performance and critical‑thinking skills.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Traditional classroom assessments rely on written assignments or large-group discussions that are difficult to scale, provide limited insight into students' reasoning abilities, and often result in uneven participation where only a few students dominate the conversation.
Solution
Soapbox offers an AI‑supported platform that creates live, one‑on‑one virtual debates for any discipline. Instructors can assign debate topics, the system pairs students, guides the structured exchange, and automatically evaluates performance using AI‑driven rubrics. The platform delivers measurable outcomes—such as improved exam scores and reduced failure rates—by embedding active, reasoning‑focused assessment into existing courses. Results and analytics are presented through a dashboard that integrates with learning‑management systems, enabling educators to track individual and class‑level progress.
Target Audience
Primary customers are higher‑education faculty and instructional designers who need scalable, active‑learning assessments for undergraduate and graduate courses across science, engineering, humanities, health, and social sciences.
Features
- Automated scheduling and pairing of students for 1:1 virtual debates
- Structured debate flow with dedicated speaking turns to ensure equal participation
- Real‑time speech capture and AI‑generated scoring based on argument quality, evidence use, and critical thinking
- Detailed analytics dashboard showing performance metrics, feedback, and longitudinal trends
- LMS integration for seamless assignment, grading, and reporting
- Discipline‑agnostic content support covering business, STEM, humanities, medicine, and more