As AI continues to reshape teaching and learning in higher education, one of the most practical and ready‑to‑use tools available to UTA faculty is AI Role Play in LinkedIn Learning. Because all UTA faculty, staff, and students have full, free access to LinkedIn Learning through the university, this feature becomes an immediate, low‑barrier way to experiment with AI in both your own professional development and your classroom.

What Is AI Role Play in LinkedIn Learning?

AI Role Play is an interactive tool inside LinkedIn Learning that allows learners to practice realistic conversations using voice or text. The AI takes on a persona—such as a colleague, supervisor, customer, client, team member, or community partner—and responds dynamically based on what the user says. After each practice session, learners receive:

Actionable, personalized feedback
Suggestions for how to improve tone, communication, clarity, or empathy
Recommendations for LinkedIn Learning courses to build targeted skills
A safe, judgment‑free environment to rehearse hard conversations

Faculty and students can also create custom scenarios, making it highly adaptable across disciplines.

How to Get Started (Faculty and Students)

Go to LinkedIn Learning via the UTA OIT portal:
https://oit.uta.edu/services/linked-in-learning
Log in with your UTA NetID.
Be sure your LinkedIn Learning is linked to your personal LinkedIn profile for personalized AI Role Play.
In the left‑hand navigation menu, select AI Role Play or AI Coaching.
Visit the FAQ link from LinkedIn Learning to learn more about features and “how to”.
Choose a pre‑built scenario or create your own.
Use voice or text to begin your practice conversation.
Review feedback and integrate improvements.
Share the scenario link with students if you’re embedding it into Canvas.

How UTA Faculty Can Use AI Role Play for Their Own Teaching Development

1. Practice Tough Conversations

Faculty regularly navigate challenging conversations such as:

Giving constructive feedback to students
Addressing concerns with a colleague or teaching assistant
Handling student frustration, resistance, or disengagement with learning or the classroom space
Having difficult discussions with groups, teams, or committees

AI Role Play lets you rehearse these moments before they happen, helping you build confidence, strengthen communication, and explore different approaches safely.

2. Strengthen Teaching‑Presence and Communication Skills

AI Role Play provides feedback on:

Tone and clarity
Empathy
Specificity
Question phrasing
How well you scaffold the conversation
How well you model transparent communication

This helps faculty refine their teaching voice and presence, especially for online, hybrid, or asynchronous modalities.

Because the AI’s feedback is immediate, faculty can iteratively polish their responses.

How Faculty Can Use AI Role Play With Students in Classroom Assignments

One of the most powerful aspects of AI Role Play is its adaptability for assignments across majors. Here are UTA‑ready examples you can plug into your courses:

1. Communication‑Focused Role Plays

Peer feedback simulations
Conflict resolution scenarios
Practicing presentations or pitches
Difficult team‑member conversations
Customer or client interaction scenarios

Students gain real‑time practice and can repeat the scenario as many times as needed.

2. Discipline‑Specific Scenarios

*[NOTE: Use hypothetical invented scenarios and NOT real-life data or information!]

Education: parent‑teacher conferences, classroom management conversations
Nursing/Health: patient interviews, delivering difficult news, interprofessional communication
Engineering: client requirements meetings, safety discussions
Business: negotiations, sales calls, leadership coaching
Social Work: intake interviews, motivational interviewing
Liberal Arts: historical reenactments, literary character dialogue, role simulations for debate or public speaking

Faculty can design custom prompts to tailor the AI’s persona, goals, attitudes, and level of challenge.

3. Critical Reflection Assignments

After completing a role play, students can:

Submit the AI feedback report
Write a reflection on what they learned
Revise their communication with a second attempt
Compare their communication strategies over time

This builds metacognition and supports transparent learning.

4. Role Play as a Low‑Stakes Practice Environment

Students often fear “messing up” in public. AI Role Play gives them a private space to:

Try different verbal approaches
Correct misunderstandings
Explore different tones (more formal, more supportive, more assertive)
Build skills before applying them with real people

This is especially beneficial for multilingual students, first‑generation students, or students new to professional communication.

How to Link Your LinkedIn Learning Account with Your Personal LinkedIn Profile

To get the most out of AI Role Play—including smarter recommendations, skill‑aligned scenarios, and the ability to post course completions to your professional profile—you should link your university‑provided LinkedIn Learning account with your personal LinkedIn profile. This connection improves personalization while keeping your personal profile activity private from UTA.

Steps:

Go to LinkedIn Learning through UTA’s login page:
https://oit.uta.edu/services/linked-in-learning/
Sign in using your UTA NetID and password.
When prompted with the message:
“Connect your LinkedIn account to LinkedIn Learning?”
select “Yes, connect my account.”
Sign in to your personal LinkedIn profile (the one you already use professionally).
- Note: UTA does not see your personal profile activity.
  Your learning history and recommendations do sync between the two systems.
Review the brief explanation of what information is shared.
Click “Accept and Continue.”
You’re now fully connected.
- Your LinkedIn Learning completions can appear under your LinkedIn profile’s Licenses & Certifications section.
- AI Role Play scenarios can use your job title, interests, and skill goals to generate more accurate simulations and coaching feedback.

LinkedIn Learning Videos That Support AI Role Play

Below are videos that directly demonstrate and support the use of AI Role Play for teaching, communication skills, and simulated practice.

1️⃣ AI‑Powered Role Play from LinkedIn Learning (YouTube)

This official LinkedIn Learning demonstration shows how AI Role Play works, how to practice scenarios, and how the AI provides feedback to improve communication skills. Excellent for faculty new to the tool.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi2Fr1ucvtA [youtube.com]

2️⃣ Applying Learning Through Role‑Play | AI for Learning (ColumbiaLearn)

This video demonstrates how role play improves student learning and includes an example of AI‑based role play in a social work context—useful for faculty wanting to see discipline‑specific applications.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsufvB4tU6E [youtube.com]

3️⃣ LinkedIn Learning AI Roleplay (Vimeo demo)

A short overview and example of how AI Role Play functions for communication practice. Useful for quick faculty orientation.
Watch here: https://vimeo.com/1098782548 [vimeo.com]

4️⃣ Create and Share AI‑Powered Role Play Scenarios (LinkedIn Learning Hub)

Demonstrates how organizations (including universities) can design their own custom AI role play scenarios. This is ideal for faculty who want to create their own role play activities for students.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UR7phLNgA4 [youtube.com]

5️⃣ AI‑Powered Role Play for Learners (LinkedIn Learning)

Shows how learners can build confidence and human‑skills through AI role play. Great for embedding into student assignments or Canvas modules.
Watch here: https://training.talent.linkedin.com/introducing-role-play-with-ai-coach [training.t…nkedin.com]

Final Thoughts

AI Role Play in LinkedIn Learning offers UTA faculty a versatile, powerful tool for both professional growth and classroom teaching. It strengthens communication skills, builds confidence, and gives students hands‑on experience in authentic, discipline‑specific scenarios. Most importantly, this tool aligns with our broader mission in CRTLE: to support innovative and student‑centered teaching practices that prepare students for meaningful futures.

If you’d like help designing a role‑play assignment or want examples tailored to your discipline, I’m always glad to consult and collaborate.

*This post was co-authored with AI including Microsoft Copilot.

Using LinkedIn Learning’s AI Role Play Tool to Enhance Teaching and Student Learning