Educate Austin is a non-profit organization headquartered in Austin, Texas. Our mission is to increase the rate at which school-aged children learn by combining educational psychology and interactive technology, thereby building a stronger educational foundation and increasing likelihood of future success.


Board of Directors

Michael Mayrath, Founder
mmayrath@educateaustin.org
Michael established EducateAustin.org in 2003 to provide parents, teachers, and school administrators with the latest real-world applications from educational psychology research. “Teaching Tips” and the “Instructional Technology Lab” are intended to be places where those who teach can find easy-to-implement teaching methods, tips for increasing motivation in learners, and links to online applications that are leading the educational technology revolution.

Michael has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology Ph.D. student at University of Texas at Austin specializing in Learning, Cognition, & Motivation. He also has a Masters in Program Evaluation focusing on the evaluation and assessment of educational technology. His research focuses on advanced instructional technology, such as animated pedagogical agents, intelligent tutoring systems, and interactive virtual worlds. He consults with State Representative Mark Strama’s Office to research what levels of technology resources exist in Texas K-12 public schools. Results of the research have been used to develop legislation for the Spring 2007 Texas legislative session: HCR 143: Commission on Online Learning.
> Austin American Statesman article on Mayrath and Educate Austin
> Michael Mayrath's Vita

Aaron Smith, Director
Aaron is currently pursuing a masters degree in instructional technology at the University of Texas at Austin. He also works as an Assistant Manager at the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment at UT Austin where he helps manage instructional technology projects being developed for UT Faculty by UT students. Prior to starting graduate work Aaron received a BA in mathematics from UT Austin. As part of his undergraduate studies he participated in UTeach, a nationally recognized teacher preparation program. After receiving his degree he was employed by the UT Distance Education Center where he worked with a team to design, develop, and implement web-based high school math and science courses. His interests include instructional technology development and policy, math education, and education systems.

John Kucsera, Director
John is a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Educational Psychology. He was formerly a teacher as well as a certified behavior specialist. He has also been involved with teacher training in K-12 and postsecondary institutions since 2001. His current research centers on teacher motivation, teaching effectiveness, and educational programs for social equality.

Stephen Walls, Director
Stephen is a doctoral student in the University of Texas’Educational Psychology Ph.D. program, specializing in the Learning, Cognition, & Motivation area. His research interests include faculty development, cooperative learning effects, motivation at the post-secondary level, educational technology effects on social cognition, and various aspects of education public policy. Prior to his doctoral program, Stephen’s background was in business and specifically in the marketing and human resources fields. He worked in a variety of positions at companies such as Wal-Mart, American Airlines, Dell, Vignette, and ibooks.com.

Stephen received his MBA at the University of Texas and his BBA at Texas A&M University. With EducateAustin, Stephen is passionate about getting important and relevant research into the hands of school educators and administrators so that we, as a community, can address our most pressing issues in public education. Further, he hopes that EducateAustin can be a forum for educating corporations and governmental bodies on the critical issues facing educators today and pressing them for action and involvement that reflects the true needs of our students and schools.

> For more information about Educate Austin, please contact us.