Research

At the Humboldt-Universität Berlin, I work on projects at the intersection of educational technology and teacher professional development. As principal investigator in the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy AI2PI (Artificial Intelligence to Pedagogical Innovation), I explore how educators can critically and constructively engage with AI in teaching practice. My broader focus lies in inclusive, reflective, and practice-oriented teacher education.

Previously, I completed my PhD at the Free University of Bolzano, where I investigated media education and narrative learning through the MEKIDS project (Media Education with Kids through Interactive Digital Storytelling). This work led to the development of Fantastinomio, a simple, picture-based digital storytelling tool that can be adapted by teachers to support children's creative expression. Earlier, at the University of Trento, my research in the Department of Sociology focused on sociomateriality in progressive education settings, analyzing how children interact with unconventional learning materials in environments such as forest schools.

I use a mixed methods approach that integrates qualitative and quantitative data, often in close collaboration with practitioners and partner institutions. I specialize in design-based research (DBR)—also known as Educational Design Research (EDR)—which allows me to co-develop educational interventions and study their impact in real-world contexts. I focus specifically in these areas:

  • AI Literacy and Teacher Education—Impact on AI in education, teacher AI competencies, critical use in pedagogical contexts
  • Game-based learning—Serious games, proximal development in play, constructionist approaches
  • Interactive digital storytelling—new expressive forms in digital media, electronic literature for children, interactive storytelling systems
  • Inclusive design—Instructional design of educational media, Universal design for learning (UDL)
  • New literacies studies—literacies as social practices, literacy beyond print, multimodal meaning-making
  • STS in Education —sociological perspectives on educational technology and digital governance, socio-materiality, actor-network theory (ANT)

Selected Publications

See my ORCID for an updated list
Published Papers
  • Schlauch, M., Sylla, C., & Gil, M. (2024). More than words: Conceptualizing narrative computational thinking based on a multicase study. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 33, 100704. doi:10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.100704
  • Schlauch, M., 2023. MEKIDS: Media Education with Kids through Interactive Digital Storytelling , a Design-Based Research Study. Ph.D. thesis. Free University of Bolzano. Bildungsforschung,(2). https://hdl.handle.net/10863/36753
  • Deister, F. L., Garzetti, M., & Schlauch, M. (2022). Conjecture maps in practice: Planning, conducting and assessing educational design research. Bildungsforschung, (2). doi:10.25539/bildungsforschung.v0i2.893
  • Schlauch, M. (2021). The Unlucky Hans. The Difficulties of Adapting Fairy Tales as Text-Based Games for Young Readers. gamenvironments, 2021(15), 351-361. doi:10.48783/gameviron.v15i15.156
  • Schlauch, M. (2021). Digitale Bildung im Nachlass der Lehrmaschine. Lehrerbildung auf dem Prüfstand, 14(1), 94-102. open access
  • Schlauch, M. (2021). Towards the end of school? Using Social Science Fiction to explore pedagogical perspectives on technology. formazione & insegnamento, 19(2), 169-178. doi:10.7346/-fei-xix-02-21_16
  • Macchia, V.; Guerrini, V.; Cotza, V.; Schlauch, M. (2021). From critical issues to opportunities: The challenges for a sustainable school at the time of COVID-19. formazione & insegnamento, 19(1), 786-796. doi:10.7346/-fei-XIX-01-21_67
  • Schlauch, M. (2019). Learning as a Matter of Concern: Reviewing Conventional, Sociocultural and Socio-material Perspectives. Tecnoscienza, 10(2), 153-172. open access