When looking at changes in IT adoption and use in organisations, our theories rely-for the most part-on slow adoption timespans or-to a lesser extent-abrupt crises of short duration. We lack a model of IT adoption during a crisis of extended duration. This paper tackles this gap by looking at the IT-explorative and-exploitative teaching-related practices of university lecturers in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Based on qualitative data from three European higher education institutions and their responses to the COVID-19 crisis, we propose a process model of IT exploration/exploitation under a condition of extended crisis. The model shows that IT use and practices in response to a prolonged crisis go through phases, presenting predictable challenges that management can alleviate with a well-timed approach.
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