#83 Can Flexibility Hurt Online Learners? What Pacing Data Reveals with Kristen DeBruler copertina

#83 Can Flexibility Hurt Online Learners? What Pacing Data Reveals with Kristen DeBruler

#83 Can Flexibility Hurt Online Learners? What Pacing Data Reveals with Kristen DeBruler

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In this episode of Why Distance Learning, your hosts talk with Kristen DeBruler — Assistant Director of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute — about what makes online learning work for K-12 students, and what quietly undermines it. Drawing on survey data from over a thousand virtual teachers and fresh findings on student and teacher AI perceptions, her work reveals where the conventional promises of online learning diverge from what the data actually shows. The episode centers on a tension that practitioners rarely name directly: the flexibility that makes online learning valuable for some students can work against those who are still developing the self-regulation skills to use it well.Together, the hosts and Kristen explore how a researcher inside a state virtual learning organization sets and pursues a research agenda — including the unusual advantage of having direct access to student data. They examine common failure modes in classroom-level research, particularly how vague research questions leave teachers vulnerable to the biases they're trying to surface. Kristen walks through her team's findings on the gap between how students and teachers define acceptable AI use, and why that ambiguity is already showing up in the classroom. The conversation turns to teacher feedback as the connective tissue of asynchronous online learning — and what the data shows about what makes it work and what makes it hollow. And Kristen makes a pointed case about applying adult learning research to K-12 populations: the data doesn't transfer as cleanly as the field sometimes assumes, and the consequences land on students who are still building the executive functioning skills that adult learners already have. Her pacing research is illustrative: students who cross unit boundaries — not just move around within one — end up with final grades 9.5 points lower on average, a gap large enough that teachers should treat it as a warning signal, not background noise.Key topics:Researcher role inside a state virtual learning organizationSetting a research agenda: legislative directives vs. internal needsAvoiding bias in classroom-level researchThe AI acceptable-use gap between students and teachersTeacher feedback as the primary relationship-building mechanism in async coursesWhat makes feedback substantive (personal, formative, actionable) vs. hollowAI-generated feedback and trust erosion in online learningStudent pacing deviation and its effect on learning outcomesExecutive functioning support for K-12 online learnersCautions in applying adult learning research to adolescentsLinks & ResourcesMichigan Virtual: https://michiganvirtual.orgMichigan Virtual Digital Backpack (blog): https://michiganvirtual.org/blog/Michigan Virtual research publications: https://michiganvirtual.org/research/publications/Cuccolo, K. & DeBruler, K. (2024). A Look Back At 3 Years of Michigan Virtual Research. Michigan Virtual. — Source of the AI policy gap data (30%/80%) and AI facilitator vs. task-completion findings. https://michiganvirtual.org/research/publications/a-look-back-at-3-years-of-michigan-virtual-research/Cuccolo, K. & DeBruler, K. (2024). Out of Order, Out of Reach: Navigating Assignment Sequences for STEM Success. Michigan Virtual. — Source of the 9.5-point pacing deviation finding. https://michiganvirtual.org/research/publications/out-of-order-out-of-reach-navigating-assignment-sequences-for-stem-success/DeBruler, K. & Harrington, C. (2024). Key Strategies for Supporting Disengaged and Struggling Students in Virtual Learning Environments. Michigan Virtual. https://michiganvirtual.org/research/publications/key-strategies-for-supporting-disengaged-and-struggling-students-in-virtual-learning-environments/Harrington, C. & DeBruler, K. (2021). Key Strategies for Engaging Students in Virtual Learning Environments. Michigan Virtual. https://michiganvirtual.org/research/publications/key-strategies-for-engaging-students-in-virtual-learning-environments/Michigan Virtual report on student and teacher AI perceptions (2026): [LINK — get from guest; published ~2 weeks before recording]Jared Borup's ACE for Community Framework: https://edtechbooks.org/encyclopedia/academic_communities_of_engagement_ace_framework Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA): https://virtuallearningalliance.org/Karle Delo, Michigan Virtual (AI policy): https://michiganvirtual.org (search staff directory)Why Distance Learning Michigan Virtual Episodes: See list for episodes with Dr. Tovah Sheldon and two with MV alum Chris Harrington. https://www.cilc.org/News-(1)/Why-Distance-Learning-Podcast.aspxMake It Mindful Michigan Virtual Episodes: See list from Seth's other podcast for episodes with Karle Delo and two with Aaron Baughman. https://mim.bepodcast.network/episodesGuest Bio: Kristen DeBrulerKristen DeBruler is the Assistant Director of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, where she has spent more than 14 years studying K-...
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