It doesn’t necessarily have to be a professor if you think it would be appropriate for a university setting.
Getting students to interact with you (the instructor) on ANY level is nightmare fuel for introverts. I say this as the instructor AND a lifelong introvert (when I not teaching my topics I love).
Agreed, but based on OP’s comment, they were forcing students to interact with each other in a public setting (in front of the whole class). Instead of directly breaking the ice between instructor and students, they were doing it by having the students interact between themselves, with the instructor as mediator.