Constructing a deconstructed campus: instructional design as vital bricks and mortar

In this rejoinder to Mazoué (J Comput High Educ, 2012 ) article, “the deconstructed campus,” we react to his arguments regarding the replacement of face-to-face teaching on college campuses with computer-supported approaches, including on-line learning, intelligent cognitive tutors, and open-ended learning environments where, rather than being confined to standard degree programs, students act increasingly as “free agents” in constructing and selecting learning experiences that interest them. While agreeing that such changes are inevitable and potentially beneficial in improving teaching and learning in higher education for the twenty-first century, we take issue with Mazoué’s strident criticism and dismissal of the contributions of human teachers to student development via coaching, modeling, and selected uses of didactic instruction. More fundamentally, we caution against embracing technology solutions lacking credible evidence of effectiveness for learning and implementation feasibility. We argue instead that instructional design processes, not media, need to form the anchor for course and experiential learning design, both older and cutting edge forms.