Research background and purpose: From year to year, the digitalisation is more present in the work of faculty, but changing conditions raises many concerns and reluctant attitudes mirrored in MM. This leads to a sluggishness in using technology-based tools and persists in a nondigital condition. The purpose of this paper is to diagnose mental models (MM) of university teachers with respect to online teaching and learning (OTL) and to show their impact on the professional performance of teachers. In the study, the author is seeking an answer on the title question - does digital eruption threaten teaching work at universities? Design and methodology: In this study, MMs were measured using the Osgood semantic differential method, while occupational performance was measured on a 5-degree Likert-type scale. Two cluster analysis methods were used and three types of MMs were distinguished among academics with regard to OTL: reluctant, neutral, and enthusiast. Furthermore, the dendrogram method was used to visualise the aggregation of statements related to OTL. Findings: It was established that organisational technology support is not a differentiating factor for teachers’ MMs. An enthusiast MM was found to result in lower stress related to OTL, greater self-esteem in digital competence, and a desire for self-improvement. Better assessment of students’ abilities and student motivation and relationships. The use of technology-based educational methods depended on the type of MM. Value added and limitations: The research contributes to the discussion on the need for change in the attitudes of academics towards the use of online tools in teaching and highlights the mismatch between teaching tools and the expectations of society 5.0. The main limitation of the research is the number of respondents and the spatial coverage of the research. The difficulty also stems from the boundaries of the tools that are used to measure mental models.