Teaching in the New Era

Right now, as I type this, I am listening to Tal Ben-Sharar lecture to his Harvard class.

http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k14790&pageid=icb.page69129

The course is from two years ago.  Mind you, I'm not listening via a CD or through the Learning Company or Great Lectures or any one of a number of intellectuals on tape.  Rather, I am watching video of his lecture, and I have downloaded his power point presentation.  All of this is free and easily available on the web, along with thousands of others at Harvard, MIT and probably any number of institutions.

And I'm wondering just what is the role of the teacher at the university.  What, exactly is Ben-Sharar doing?  And does he need to be present in front of a live audience to do what he does?  These lectures have subsequently come out, obviously refashioned, as a book, Happier.  Can the teaching of this topic be reduced to the video, slides and book?

In this case, perhaps yes, and where does that leave the teacher, the course and the university?  Why bother spending the money and attending the university? 

I teach all my classes online, and the bulk of the work I do could easily be accomplished by the students themselves through paying close attention to the textbook written for them.  They really don't need me as a teacher.  They need a coach, a slave driver, and a bureaucrat who can sign off on their work.  But for this class, they do not need a teacher.