In Myanmar, the pandemic had a heavy impact on the national universities of teacher education, almost stopping all classes for a year. The army launched a coup in February 2021, exacerbating the situation. Those who engaged in the civil disobedience movement eventually decided to establish an alternative online university of teacher education in-hiding, called 'Spring Normal University' (SNU). Few studies have investigated the situation of SNU. This study aims to analyse the differences generated by the establishment of SNU in terms of the rules and their underpinning values compared to previous teacher education institutions (TEIs) based on the framework of comparative institutional analysis. The analysis revealed that the establishment of SNU produced unexpected outcomes, including greater student participation not only as learners but also as indispensable elements of the university and rapid provision of online education, which was a long-term issue before the coup.