The purpose of this research study was to gain insight into the experiences of secondary English asynchronous distance educators using Intelligent Agents (IA), a technology on the Desire to Learn platform (D2L), that allows for course personalization. The need for this study was made evident through an extensive review of the impact of teacher communication on student course engagement. Since Intelligent Agents are central to improving asynchronous course personalization and provide a viable way to target student needs, this study's findings have important implications for the field of distance education. The three research questions this study sought to answer were: (1) How do early adaptive secondary distance educators, who have embraced Intelligent Agents, use the technology to increase student engagement? (2) What do highly proactive and innovative distance educators using Intelligent Agents believe could be done to help all distance educators implement this new technology? (3) How do early adaptive, highly proactive distance educators using Intelligent Agents envision the next frontier of Intelligent Agents? Data analysis of eleven qualitative, semi-structured interviews resulted in four key findings. Educators learn to be proactive opposed to reactive regarding content and engagement; tone reception is regarded as an essential area of an educator's focus; Intelligent Agents are widely perceived as time consuming and intimidating yet effective to aid distance educators in doing their best work; and changes and improvements to the technology will increase educator comfort, usage, and ability to effectively use technology. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]