Is the Role of the Academic Instructor Useful in the Age of the Internet? A Cross-Cultural Empirical Survey of Stakeholder Perceptions

Purpose - This paper sets out to assess the role and impact of today’s widespread Internet accessibility and use on university-level instruction. While the pervasive accessibility to technology fosters numerous evident advantages, it also poses many unprecedented challenges and threats for the future of higher education. Methodology - To appraise the various factors drawn into this argument a brief empirical survey of students and instructors was conducted at the Department of Business Economics at the University of Verona and at the Graduate School of Business at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Findings - Higher education has to confront the challenges that this disruptive technology poses. The prevailing perceptions support the essentiality of the role of instructor, underline the necessity for personal interaction in the education process, and advocate a blending and integration of both online and class-based interactions as the way to move forward. and meet the needs and demands of students. Practical implications - The paper lends itself to initiating a much-needed discussion in the university on meeting the challenge and planning appropriate processes of change. Originality and value - These aspects have received too little attention in the literature, particularly by way of direct investigation in the field.