Can online technology and resources replace accounting faculty? Student perceptions of the importance of accounting faculty

Advances in online technology and resources allow accounting programs to reduce faculty’s online teaching load. We investigate how students, the accounting education stakeholders most affected by the use of online technology, perceive this development. We surveyed students enrolled in online accounting courses at two AACSB-accredited universities in the US and find strong evidence that despite the advancement of online technology and resources, most students do not think that technology and online resources can replace faculty. Moreover, they do not believe that they can perform as well without faculty and thus prefer to take an online course with faculty. Their perceptions and preferences toward having an online course with faculty are positively influenced by the perceived quality of their current faculty and their GPA. Furthermore, they are negatively influenced by the perceived quality of the online technology and resources they use and their self-perceived computer ability. Additionally, we find that 25% of students who originally prefer an online course with faculty change their minds to a course without faculty when presented with a financial incentive. When presented with a flexibility incentive, 33% of students change their minds and prefer a course without faculty. Our results are consistent with the notion that most students recognize the importance of high-quality accounting faculty teaching their online courses and want them to teach their online courses. Our study is important for accounting programs interested in utilizing technology to reduce faculty teaching loads or searching for the optimal mix of faculty and technology in their accounting courses.