About Us

Behnam Taraghi

Behnam Taraghi is the head of the EdTech team at the Department of Educational Technologies at Graz University of Technology. He is deeply involved in the development and application of educational technologies and technology-enhanced learning, with a focus on improving learning experiences in higher education and beyond. In addition to overseeing tools and services in this domain, he actively contributes to research in areas such as learning analytics, personal learning environments, and data-driven education.

Benedikt Brünner

Benedikt Brünner is a university assistant at Graz University of Technology in the research area of educational technology. He is part of the research project Future of Digital Education and Learning (FutureDEAL) at the Institute of Human-Centred Computing (HCC) of Graz University of Technology. He had previously taught computer science and biology in a secondary school in Austria for over two years.

Gerald Geier

Gerald Geier teaches and works at the Institute for Digital Media Education at the University College of Teacher Education Styria. As part of the Future of Digital Education and Learning (FutureDEAL) research project, he has been working on his dissertation since the beginning of 2024.

In order not to lose sight of practical everyday school life, he has been teaching computer science, basic digital education and mathematics in the 10-18 age group at Gymnasium Hartberg since 2015.

Philipp Leitner

Philipp Leitner is deputy head of the service department Educational Technology at Graz University of Technology. He focuses on emerging trends and technologies in education. As the leader of the Learning Analytics group, his research centers on the application of AI in education, particularly in enhancing learning experiences while ensuring data privacy and security. He is committed to advancing technology-supported learning through responsible and ethical data use, contributing to AI-driven educational tools and frameworks.

Maria Grandl

Maria Grandl teaches and works at the Institute for Digital Media Education at the University College of Teacher Education Styria in the field of “Digital Education and Educational Informatics”. She previously worked at Graz University of Technology as a university assistant in the field of computer science didactics (focus on digital basic education and pedagogical making).

From 2018 to 2022, she was responsible for the organisation, further development of the didactic-methodological concept and the scientific support of the “MAKER DAYS for kids”, an open (digital) workshop for pupils. She is currently analysing the results as part of her dissertation.

Markus Koschutnig-Ebner

Markus Koschutnig-Ebner currently works as a junior researcher and team leader in the department Educational Technology at Graz University of Technology. His research interests focus on e-learning, mobile learning, technology enhanced learning and open educational resources. He specializes in learning analytics in the primary and secondary school environment (K-12) and in the field of educational informatics. Within this framework, an EU project was successfully implemented with the aim of analyzing and promoting children’s language acquisition. In addition, several publications in the field of learning analytics have been published and workshops on this topic have been held.

Michael Nestler

Michael Nestler is a lecturer at the Department of Applied Computer Science at the University of Applied Sciences FH JOANNEUM Gesellschaft mbH, where he teaches in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in Business Informatics. His teaching focuses on cloud technologies and IT architectures.

His research interests lie in the area of innovative teaching-learning formats, in particular the application of interactive flipped classroom methods with a focus on the use of learning videos in the engineering context of higher education.

Josef Wachtler

Josef Wachtler is currently working at the Department Educational Technology at Graz University of Technology. His research interests are in the field of video based learning supported by interactive content used in different settings like schools, universities or MOOCs.

He is in charge of the technical realization and the scientific evaluation of TU Graz Schulapps. With this platform learning apps for children are offered.

Sandra Schön

Sandra Schön holds a PhD in Educational Science and has been working since 2020 at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), currently at Institute of Human-Centred Computing. Within the university alliance Unite!, she coordinates the collection and documentation of information on the IT infrastructures for learning at all partner institutions and gathers lessons learned regarding the implementation of IT-supported teaching and digital developments. In addition, she leads and supports projects and research initiatives of the Educational Technology unit in the areas of open educational resources, MOOCs, and AI.

Yevheniia Andriichenko

Yevheniia Andriichenko is an Assistant in Research and Teaching at FH CAMPUS 02 University of Applied Sciences, where she contributes to the IT & Business Informatics department. Her interdisciplinary academic background enables her to bridge technical expertise with educational innovation, particularly in the field of Open Educational Resources (OER). Her research interests center on the development, evaluation, and implementation of OER, with a specific focus on mathematics education. Since December 2024, Yevheniia is working on her dissertation, which aims to develop methods to assess the impact of OER on education.