James Rutherford

James is a learning spaces specialist who has been working in the design and development of new learning environments in higher education since 2009. He also has over 30 years of managerial and technical experience in technical support for learning and teaching.
He has a Masters in Advanced Educational Practice from UCL Institute of Education, where he researched the impact of physical space design on learning and teaching. He is a Fellow of Advance HE [The Higher Education Academy] where he demonstrated a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education.

James works at City, University of London, as a Senior Educational Technologist and project lead for learning space development and video/multimedia production. He has worked as a learning space consultant with universities, architects and furniture manufacturers. James previously worked in managerial and technical roles in learning environment development for the University of Birmingham and University of the Arts London.

For six years James was joint managing director of a corporate video production company producing creative communication video programmes, online material and live event media. From 2013 to 2016, James was the vice-chair of the Executive Committee of SCHOMS, the professional body for heads of media services working within UK Higher Education. He is the joint leader of a workshop entitled “The Pedagogy of Space” held at a number of conferences with an interactive session focused on exploring effective use of a learning space for face-to-face teaching.