Photo: A. Stilos

Whether it’s doing homework with ChatGPT, watching TikTok Reels during recess, or using voice assistants at the family dinner table: digital media and artificial intelligence are shaping the everyday lives of children and adolescents today more naturally than ever before. Schools face the challenge of empowering young people to engage with this ubiquitous technology in a reflective and self-determined way. But to do so, teachers—just like parents—need guidance.

The Von Tessin Chair for Media Education at the Freie Hochschule Stuttgart has been researching and developing media education concepts in the context of Waldorf education since 2018. At the heart of this is a development-oriented approach: It is designed to support adolescents in an age-appropriate way as they become media-literate individuals. On this basis, students learn to independently design and implement relevant projects for everyday classroom instruction.

A Holistic Approach to Media Education

With the “Media Education on Site” project, funded by the Software AG Foundation (SAGST), the Chair is now breaking new ground: In the future, professional development sessions will no longer take place only at central conference venues, but also directly at Waldorf schools. In terms of content, the initiative builds on the results of current research and development work, particularly the EU project HERMMES (“Holistic Education, Resilience, and Media Maturity in Educational Settings”), which concluded in 2025.

“Given the rapid pace of development, many teachers feel overwhelmed by the task of systematically integrating media education into their classrooms,” says SAGST project manager Jana Theurer. “With its proven concepts, this new program provides valuable guidance that schools can adopt and adapt to their specific local circumstances.” The events are aimed at the entire teaching staff as well as interested parents. In supplementary workshops, mentors for different grade levels and subject areas are trained; they will then support the implementation of a modern media education concept at their schools.

Further reading: Nino Mindiashvili, a research associate at the Von Tessin Chair, reports on the project in the 04/2026 issue of the journal *Erziehungskunst*: “You call, we’ll come! Media education on-site