In this episode of Standing Tall Voices in Leadership, host Randy Lindquist sits down with Michigan Virtual AI Strategist Karle Delo to discuss the strategic, responsible implementation of artificial intelligence across school districts. Delo delivers actionable advice on establishing clear data guardrails, utilizing AI as a personalized leadership coach, and preparing students for an automated workforce while ensuring that human relationships remain at the absolute heart of education
The Journey from Classroom to Strategy: Karle shares how her decade of experience teaching middle school science and serving as an instructional coach shaped her minimalist, intentional approach to educational technology. She emphasizes that tech shouldn't be used just because it is digital, but rather to enhance existing best practices.
Navigating the Tool Landscape: Rather than trying to master hundreds of niche educational apps, Karle advises leaders to focus on core frontier models (like Gemini or ChatGPT) . She explains the concept of "ChatGPT wrappers" (ordering off a menu) versus large language models (cooking for yourself) and introduces the fast-evolving world of autonomous AI agents .
Responsible District Implementation: A successful roll-out rejects the "one-and-done" professional development model. Instead, districts should establish high-level guiding principles, transparent data privacy expectations, and empower instructional leaders to design shareable AI workflows ("Gems") that support active district initiatives.
Data Privacy & Ethics: Clear boundaries must be set regarding what information can be put into specific systems. School-managed accounts (like Gemini for Education) offer FERPA/COPPA compliance matching standard Google Workspace privacy, whereas consumer-paid tiers (like Claude or personal ChatGPT) must never handle sensitive student data.
AI for Organizational Effectiveness: Leaders can use AI as a powerful executive coach. Karle notes how she uses AI note-takers to critique her public speaking pacing and fillers, uses voice mode for outdoor brainstorming sessions, and leverages LLMs to parse the red tape of complex state and federal grants.
Student Guide: Available at michiganvirtual.org/ai/students.
Career Exploration Tool: WillRobotsTakeMyJob.com.
Upcoming Event: AI in the Lakeshore featuring keynote speaker Karle Delo on August 5 (Registration via muskegonisd.org) .