Table 1 Summary of main themes and identified affordances and constraints related to ERT

Promoting strategies for socialization and inclusiveness

Relates to social relationships and community building through features for communication and collaboration

• New ways of building and maintaining social relationships and a sense of community (digital ice breakers, getting-to-know-each-other, walk and talk, zoom-coffee)

• Increased engagement, social interaction and participation in breakout room discussions

• Enhanced collaboration, co-creation of ideas and shared learning within the course leader team (e.g., coworking as Zoom moderators)

• Reduced opportunities for social and informal communication and collaboration in Zoom

• Less room for spontaneous questions and reflections (typically posed during breaks)

• Harder to obtain informal networking and, subsequently, to foster a culture of mutual trust and openness

• Inhibiting the extended tacit purpose of building a foundation for continuous learning and collaboration

Creating an interactive learning environment

Relates to cognitive abilities such as mindset, focus, motivation, and concentration

• More diverse teaching strategies include mixing lectures, group discussions, individual reflection, and interactive polls and quiz

• More focused discussions, easier to moderate breakout rooms

• Facilitates course planning, structure and time management

• Increased flexibility to record and provide course material before, during and after the courses

• Harder to “get a sense” of group dynamics and course participants

• Limits the use of body language and nonverbal communication

• Increased cognitive load of video meetings, challenge to stay focused (Zoom fatigue)

• Risk for distractions and multitasking (e.g., notifications)

• Language barriers reinforced

• Harder to notice participants who zone out and do not engage in discussions

Building the plane while flying it

Relates to technological readiness, such as IT infrastructure, training and support

• Increased development of digital competence and skills through learning by doing

• Enhanced teaching methods through problem-solving strategies arising from the urgent need to adapt the course design to the digital format

• Potential for hybrid teaching and integration of features for digital teaching to enhance onsite courses

• The possibility of teaching from home per se: no risk of infection, less traveling, external guest lecturers and participants

• The technology is offered but without sufficient preconditions to learn it properly

• Lack of time and training in digital pedagogy

• IT-related frustration due to technical problems (internet, video and sound)

• Stressful not being able to trust/control the technology

• Legal aspects, security and confidentiality issues

• Mandatory IT adds complexity due to many systems, and constant changes to the digital environment