Education

B.S., Technology Support and Training Management, University of South Carolina
M.Ed, Educational Technology, University of South Carolina Aiken
MLIS, University of South Carolina
MBA, Columbia Southern University
Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction, Valdosta State University

Background

Prior to teaching full-time, Ryan Rucker worked in the information and instructional technology fields at various higher education institutions. These capacities included serving as the senior instructional designer (Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of South Carolina), coordinator of online learning (Student Success Center at USC), instructional systems analyst (Georgia Regents University), and desktop technician (USC).

Research

Rucker's research interest areas are related to online course design, technology adoption and use of instructional technologies.

Teaching

As an educator, helping students form new, significant life experiences is the essence to why Rucker is always excited to teach.  He is always testing out new technologies to improve curriculum delivery and reviewing strategies to continue applying real-world experiences. Ultimately learning is a choice; therefore, he strives to help students learn and become lifelong learners.

Publications

Bickle, M., & Rucker, R. (2021).  Stumbling made me a better online instructor: 13 tips toward quality improvement. Distance Learning, 18(3), 14-22.

Bickle, M., & Rucker, R. (2020).  COVID-19 and higher education:  Changing adoption rates of online learning. Journal of Online Higher Education, 4(2), 3-10.

Bickle, M., Rucker, R., & Burnsed, K. (2019).  Online learning: Examination of attributes that promote student satisfaction.  Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 22(1). 

Bickle, M., & Rucker, R. (2018).  Student-to-student interaction:  Humanizing the online classroom using technology and group assignments. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 19(1), 1-11.

Rucker, R., & Frass, L. (2017).  Faculty members’ perceptions of support and system usage experiences when their institution of higher education migrates from Blackboard Vista learning management systems to Desire2Learn.  Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 46(2), 259-277.