FAQs: Role Play

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• Creating Role Plays
• Adding Role Play to Courses
• Content Management
• Technology Behind Role Play
• Monetization
  

Creating Role Plays

1. How do instructors create Role Play?

How to create a Role Play:

1. Insert Role Play at the Right Spot in your courses
   Place the Role Play in a course section where it best complements related lessons or skills. For instance:
   • After a lesson on workplace communication, add a Role Play to practice handling conflicts.
2. Craft an Engaging Title
   Use a clear and appealing title that reflects the skill learners will apply.
   Examples:
   • “Resolving Team Conflicts”
   • “Negotiating a Business Deal with a Client”
3. Plan the Scenario
   • Write a Real-World Situation: Clearly describe the learner’s role (e.g., Team Leader) and their challenge.
   • Provide Context: Add relevant details so learners can make decisions based on situational knowledge.
4. Customize the AI Character
   • Choose the AI character’s name, avatar, and personality traits.
   • Write the character’s background and first line to set the tone for interaction.
     Example:
   • Character: Jordan, a team member struggling to meet deadlines.
   • First Line: “Thanks for meeting with me. I’d like to explain what’s been going on with my delays.”
5. Set Goals and Details
   • Create a meeting title (e.g., “Performance Discussion Meeting”).
   • Set clear and measurable goals for the interaction (e.g., “Ask two clarifying questions”).
6. Design for Learner Engagement
   • Ensure the scenario and character allow learners to actively apply skills in realistic challenges.
   • Align the Role Play with real-world tasks to enhance its practical value.
7. Before publishing, please make you review the Role Play beforehand to ensure it follows the “Instructor Obligations” section of Udemy’s GenAI Policy.

For more in-depth directions, check out our How to Guide

2. Which inputs are mandatory/optional while creating Role Play?

Mandatory Inputs for creating Role Play scenarios:

• Role Play title (which will be displayed in the course content )
• Scenario
• Learner role
• AI character’s image & voice, role, personality and background, AI character’s first line
• Meeting title,  meeting duration
• Meeting goals (at least one goal is mandatory, but flexible up to 5 goals based on instructor’s decision)

3. Which inputs are used by the LLM to structure Role Play conversations?

The LLM utilizes the following inputs to structure Role Play conversations:

1. Role Play title: A clear summary of the scenario’s objective and skills being practiced.
2. Scenario: The context, learner’s role, and challenges within a realistic framework.
3. Role of the learner
4. Meeting Goals: Observable and measurable objectives learners must achieve (e.g., providing constructive feedback).
5. AI character’s name
6. AI character Role and Background: Character’s job, personality, motivations etc.
7. AI character’s first line: The AI character’s first line to establish the situation clearly.
8. Duration: Time allocated to complete the conversation.

These inputs help enable the Role Play interaction to be realistic, engaging, and aligned with the learning objectives.

4. Can learners access Role Plays as soon as I publish them? When can learners access Role Play?

Learners can access Role Plays created in the following languages immediately upon Role Play publication:

• Arabic
• English
• Danish
• Dutch
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Turkish
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

Additional languages may be made available. For the latest information, visit the Help Center

5. Will there be a limit to the number of role plays per course?

No, there will not be a limit to Role Play per course. We do, however, encourage instructors to insert Role Play where it makes the most sense for the learners to practice and achieve their learning goals. For more information, check out our guide for creating Role Play

6. Is it possible to upload an image for the AI character?

No, it is currently not possible to upload an image. Currently AI characters are predefined as image & pair options in the Role Play library to choose from when building Role Plays.

7. Who is the provider for the voice and image of AI characters

Udemy uses ElevenLabs for the voice options and Lummi.ai for the image options of AI characters.

Adding Role Play to Courses

8. Will the role plays sit within courses or will it be a separate tab (like the AI Assistant)?

Role Plays will be integrated directly into courses rather than existing as a separate tab like the AI Assistant. They are designed to align with course content and enhance the learning experience within the course structure.

9. Will there be a restriction as to which learners can access role plays?

For Udemy Business learners, UB orgs need to have Role Play enabled for their learners to access Role Play. For marketplace learners, if the course has a Role Play the learners will be able to access it.

10. Will there be Mobile web support for instructors to create the Role Play?

Currently Role Play creation will only be supported on desktop and laptop.

11. What languages is Role Play available in?

The Role Play feature for instructors is currently available in the following languages:

• Arabic
• English
• Danish
• Dutch
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Turkish
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

There are plans to expand into more languages on an ongoing basis. For the latest information, visit the Help Center.

12. Will courses be tagged as containing role plays?

Yes, the course landing page and course cards will highlight the Role Play when added to courses.

13. Do learners need to complete Role Play scenarios in order to complete the course an obtain their certificate of completion?

As of today, learners do not need to complete Role Play scenarios in order to complete the course or receive their certificate of course completion. The team is monitoring the effectiveness of this learning modality and will inform instructors (and learners) if this changes in the future.

Content Management

14. As instructors now have access to Udemy Business, will they also have access to Role Plays from different instructors?

Udemy is not actively giving other instructors access to Role Play in other courses, we are only making it available to learners enrolled in the course.

15. Will instructors be able to keep a library of role plays and add to courses accordingly?

No for now. This functionality may be a part of our future releases as we continue to make Role Play better for our users.

Technology Behind Role Play

16. Did Udemy build this product’s core functionality ourselves? Or is it more like a ChatGPT wrapper?

We use OpenAI models through their API but it is a combination of different models with different settings and modalities.

17. What guardrails are we putting in place?

We rely on the implicit guardrails provided by the LLM model itself. The current LLM provider, OpenAI, has implemented safety mechanisms intended to prevent the generation of harmful content and ensure simulated characters remain consistent with their intended roles defined in the automatically prepared system prompts by our service. Internal tests using example utterances indicate that the model generally adheres to these expectations. These results align with OpenAI’s documentation and assurances regarding safety and role adherence.

18. Does an instructor need to participate in Udemy’s GenAI Program in order to create Role Play scenarios for courses?

Yes, instructors need to participate in Udemy’s GenAI Program in order to create Role Play in their courses. Instructors get an annual participation window to decide whether they will participate or not in the GenAI Program. For more information, please refer to Udemy’s GenAI Policy.

Monetization

19. How will learner consumption be calculated?

Currently the consumption for Role Plays is based on how much time learners actively engage in the activity. Here’s how it works:

1. Dependence on Length: The consumption does depend on the length of the Role Play, as active participation time is tracked.
2. Accurate Tracking: A session-based algorithm ensures only active engagement is counted. Inactivity or leaving the session stops the timer after a defined period.
3. Payout Model: Consumption time is recorded and factored into payouts, similar to quizzes or practice tests.

This ensures fair compensation based on real learner participation and engagement.

This model may change int he future.

20. How will instructors get revenue from Udemy Business associated with Role Play?

Instructors earn revenue from Udemy Business Role Plays based on the following:

1. Consumption-Based Earnings: Revenue is tied to the total minutes learners spend actively engaging with Role Plays. This is similar to compensation for Practice Tests, Coding Exercises, and Quizzes.
2. Separate Tracking: Role Play consumption minutes are tracked independently but combined with other course content for revenue reporting.
3. Fair Engagement Counts: Only active participation is counted, with mechanisms to avoid inflated time (e.g., caps for inactivity).

This system ensures instructors are compensated fairly for the time learners engage with their Role Plays. Future adjustments may further incentivize participation.

Feedback? Feel free to share feedback or ways you’re using Role Play in your courses with other instructors in our Instructor Community. Don’t have an account? Joining is easy.