Short told BBC Radio Nottingham: "The fans know him anyway - he came here as a 17-year-old and impressed, and he's impressed me so far.
"He's still only 20 and he's got a lot to learn but hopefully he can show me in Austria what he's capable of."
Pearce started his career as a Birmingham trainee and had loan spells at Notts, Port Vale, Scunthorpe, Peterborough and Huddersfield.
The Terriers took over his contract from Blues in January but released him earlier this month.
Notts will spend a week in Austria, playing two friendlies, and Short believes it will be a valuable experience.
He said: "It gets the players together, we'll have a couple of social events but they'll work as well and have two sessions each day.
"I was surprised how fit they were on Monday when we reported back but we'll take it to another level over there."
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport