Media Literacy Award 2025: Grand Prize for „Faust goes AI“

(Linz/Vienna, June 25, 2025) The Media Literacy Award (MLA) 2025, presented by the Federal Ministry of Education (BMB), the OeAD, and Ars Electronica, has been decided: Out of more than 130 submissions from teachers across Austria, the project Faust goes AI from BG Bludenz came out on top. The 7th-grade students impressed the jury with their critically reflective use of AI tools and developed an engaging graphic novel based on Goethe’s literary classic. The class wins a media education workshop worth 2,000 euros. Additional awards go to projects from VS Steinhaus (Wels) and HTL1 Bau und Design Linz. The special prize for “Digital Learning” goes to the DIGI Experts of the Schärding middle school.

As a competition for media education, the Media Literacy Award promotes digital learning concepts and innovative teaching methods across all school types and levels. The MLA is embedded within Ars Electronica’s create your world initiative.

“We were truly impressed by the consistently high quality of the submitted projects. You can really sense that media education is alive and well in Austrian schools when reviewing the diverse entries. A big thank you to all the dedicated educators! We’re very pleased that the Media Literacy Award allows us to show appreciation for this important work.”

Hans Christian Merten, head of create your world, Ars Electronica.

Main Prize for Graphic Novel

How can Goethe’s world-famous tragedy be told in a way that resonates with today’s youth – not by simplifying it, but by reinterpreting it? This was the question at the heart of the teaching project Faust goes AI at BG Bludenz, led by Jürgen Schacherl. The idea: key scenes were to be transformed into a graphic novel.

After reading the text and selecting scenes, the students used ChatGPT for analysis, storyboarding, and dialogue writing. The images were created with Midjourney, Leonardo, and Copilot, and then combined into a cohesive comic narrative using Canva. Through clever framing and recomposition, a meaningful story emerged from AI-generated fragments—one that speaks to young readers. The project concluded with a reflection on the results, based on a digital survey among the students.

The jury highlighted the project’s realistic and accessible approach to teaching literature, as well as its successful combination of literature, technology, and design. For its thoughtful use of AI within a creative context, the project Faust goes AI has been awarded the main prize of the Media Literacy Award 2025.

Awards for Creative Excellence

In addition to the main prize, two further awards will be presented, each including a media education workshop worth 1,000 euros. The jury was impressed by the variety of playful and scientific approaches that combined new technologies, subject-specific knowledge, and collaborative learning.

The three-week project Aus analog wird digital – Digitale Medien in der Volksschule at VS Steinhaus, led by Nicole Fuchs, taught first-grade pupils how their own drawings could be turned into an animated cartoon. First, the children drew their favorite cuddly toys on paper; using animation software, these soon began dancing across the screen. Complemented by audio recordings based on the children’s own ideas and wishes, the class created a joint film titled 1b and Their Cuddly Friends.

Under the title Digitaler Dialog, Menschliche Gestaltung – Eine virtuelle Kunstgalerie als Schule der Vernunft, teacher Lisa Kuka at HTL1 Bau und Design Linz developed a teaching project focused on creative work with generative AI. Individual approaches were explicitly encouraged: one student contrasted AI-generated images with her own watercolor paintings; another created an online quiz in which friends had to guess whether a story was generated by AI or written by the Brothers Grimm; yet another student produced an animated design tutorial with the help of ChatGPT. The project shows that AI can be both a tool and an opportunity for critical reflection.

Special Prize for Digital Learning

The Special Prize for “Digital Learning”, endowed with a media education workshop worth 1,000 euros, goes to class 4a of MS Schärding. Together with their teachers Daniel Pretzl, Daniela Pöschl, and Maria Theresia Luckeneder, 15 students proved themselves to be true DIGI Experts. Throughout the school year, they worked on integrating newly acquired tablets into the school’s administrative system and supported their first-grade peers as mentors, helping them use the devices and applications safely and correctly. The jury highlighted the successful peer learning within the school community as well as the responsible use of digital media.

Four Honorary Mentions

In addition, honorable mentions were awarded, each accompanied by an invitation to the Ars Electronica Festival 2025. Four schools from three Austrian provinces were recognized.

Webdokumentation zu den UNESCO SDG`s
Teachers: Martina Hasenauer and Michaela Wesely-Pfister
4AK, BHAK/BHAS Hall in Tirol 

Stimmen im Fokus – Einblick durch Interviews
Teacher: Anna Wechselberger
3C, HLW FSB Weiz

Science Communications Comics
Teacher: Friedrich Saurer
7B, Realgymnasium Hartberg 

H2O Podcast
Teachers: Thomas Maier und Stefan Ullreich
Vocational School St. Veit an der Glan, Class 3VAc (20 apprentices in the field of admin-istration) and Class 3Lab (13 apprentices in the field of chemistry)

About the Media Literacy Award

The BMB, Ars Electronica, and the OeAD jointly present the Media Literacy Award 2025. The award honors teaching projects from across Austria in the fields of media education and digital learning that promote a productive use of media and place a strong focus on collaborative work.

The MLA Jury 2025

Grand Prize for Faust goes KI / BG Bludenz

Photo showing: class 7gbawd of BG Bludenz, with teacher Jürgen Schacherl

Photo: BG Bludenz

Hauptpreis für Faust goes KI / BG Bludenz

Zu sehen: Impression des Gewinner*innenprojekts

Photo: BG Bludenz

Special Prize for Digital Learning for DIGI experts /MS Schärding

Photo showing: DIGI experts as mentors

Photo: Daniel Pretzl

Award for Aus analog wird digital

Photo showing Class 1B of VS Steinhaus/Wels

Photo: Nicole Fuchs