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Recent decades have shown a great increase in online and blended learning and teaching practices in higher education. The purpose of this book chapter is to explore and assess the existing literature on best practices in online and hybrid teaching and learning in the field of health education/promotion. Additionally, emerging practices Post-COVID-19 related to online and hybrid teaching as applicable to the field of health education/promotion were also explored.

In order to collect the materials for the study, a Boolean search of CINAHL, MEDLINE, and ERIC, Education Research Complete databases was carried out using the terms and headings such as “online teaching,” “hybrid teaching,” “health education,” “health promotion,” and “public health” for the time period 2010–2020. The criteria for inclusion of the studies were: (1) publication in English language, (2) full-text peer-reviewed publications between 2010 and 2020, and (3) location of studies anywhere in the world Exclusion criteria were publications in languages other than English and studies published prior to 2010. Using the key terms “online teaching” and “public health” yielded 10 results and “online teaching” and “health education” yielded 19 results. This review highlighted the scant published literature (as gauged by studies published in the last decade) on efficacy and application of online and hybrid teaching and learning in the field of health education/promotion.

We encourage health education professionals to conduct experimental and quasi-experimental studies for assessing efficacy of online and hybrid teaching and learning particularly using evidence-based frameworks such as Quality Matters (QM) or Online Learning Consortium (OLC) quality scorecard as mentioned earlier.

Through the present study, the authors investigate whether online practicum in teaching, with fellow teacher-candidates acting as students, can be effective and whether the teacher-candidates actually developed skills useful for their future teachings, through this form of practicum, which is necessary when, out of necessity, like in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no other option for universities.

The method selected was qualitative research through in-depth interviews, since the present research question and the research topic in general have not been examined in the past. The authors gathered 45 teacher-candidates' journals on this experience, and, then, they interviewed them through semi-structured interviews.

The findings indicated that the teacher-candidates got acquainted with new technologies in education to a great extent. Moreover, they developed skills that will be proven useful for their future teachings, like adaptability, flexibility and handling of students' interaction in online settings.

The present case study consists of a paradigm of international value, since it fills in a gap in literature on an online alternative of practicum in teaching in cases of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Valuable insights are gained for researchers, practitioners and policymakers and best-practices for online teaching practicum have derived for future use.

In this paper, the authors draw on theories of critical pedagogy to interrogate recent trends in online education scholarship, calling for more humanizing pedagogies. By using vignettes from their own teaching experiences, the paper illustrates tensions between autonomous and ideological visions of humanizing approaches, particularly how they apply to issues of inclusion in online teaching and learning.

The authors draw on critical theory to interrogate the framings of humanizing online teaching. Sharing three illustrative vignettes from their own reflexive teaching practice, the authors demonstrate how a critically framed approach to humanizing digital pedagogies can promote the design and enactment of more inclusive learning environments across online contexts.

Based on the pedagogical cases presented, the authors demonstrate (1) how methods promoted in autonomous models of humanizing pedagogy can present challenges for inclusive design, (2) how participatory media production activities can still intersect with issues of racialization, and (3) how humanizing pedagogical commitments by individual instructors can be constrained by material, structural, and institutional realities.

While critical framings of pedagogy necessarily resist prescriptive recommendations, the authors conclude the article by underscoring the importance of critically interrogating the ideological dimensions of humanizing pedagogies, the need to grapple with social inequities even as educational contexts are increasingly digitized; the importance of considering structural issues of power and privilege that produce and constrain pedagogical possibilities.

The authors offer a critical framing of humanizing pedagogies in online education that runs counter to the often-autonomous framings of these approaches, highlighting issues of power, privilege, and ideology that can be overlooked in online educational contexts, especially at the level of institutional, instructional design and support.

The quality of online higher education is often subject to scepticism and criticism. Is the quality of teaching and learning in the virtual classroom the same as in the conventional classroom? That is the question often raised by the stakeholders of universities. The present literature review has found that there has been a great deal of research about technology implementation in online education with regard to cost and efficiency savings, along with a number of studies on online pedagogy. Drawing on the current principal literature, this study explores a range of issues affecting the quality of online higher education; examines a variety of perspectives on criteria for quality online teaching and learning; and proposes a methodological framework for the measurement of both the process and outcomes of online teaching and learning. Considers that the enhancement of quality and effectiveness of online higher education requires a framework to be implemented within universities. The proposed framework provides a practical guide to the stakeholders of universities in the assessment of quality of the online teaching and learning.

Implementing effective strategies for the management of online faculty contributes to the experience of online students by ensuring that faculty are prepared to facilitate courses in a manner in which students are engaged and learning outcomes are attained. Additionally, faculty management impacts the experience of online faculty by reducing isolation; providing direction, feedback, and development; and implementing rewards and recognition to increase satisfaction and engagement. Further, best practices for online faculty management impact administrators by improving the learning outcomes of programs and departments, increasing student retention, reducing faculty attrition rates, and building institutional community. Employing best practices for the management of online faculty serves to create efficiencies and improve operations. This chapter will present best practices for faculty recruitment that aim to reduce the potential for bias and increase collaborative decision making. Additionally, key aspects of effective online faculty training will be discussed, in the context of relevant literature. Further, guidelines for the delivery of engaging professional development in the virtual space will be provided. Best practices for supervision and evaluation will be explored, including expectation setting, regular feedback, and formal assessment procedures. The aforementioned facets of online faculty management will be examined through an analysis of six case studies, based on initiatives that were implemented for the online campus of a small university.

The current literature examining the design of effective online learning opportunities recommends an array of best practices but no agreed upon and unifying model. The purpose of this paper is to survey the existing research of effective design models for online learning in an attempt to identify best practices and present a new model.

Through a comprehensive review of the literature, the paper identifies obstacles to developing an effective course design model for asynchronous distance education. Based upon this review, best practices are identified and a design model is recommended.

The research identifies the key components of successful course design methods and ultimately recommends a process that has eight steps which occur in three phases. The first phase, the identification phase, encourages the instructor and/or course design team to identify strategies, objectives, assessments and resources. In the second phase, design, instructors select, organize, adapt and reflect. The final phase is implementation, during which the course is taught.

The recommended design model has implications for practice by providing a clear structure for design activities which are aligned with the best practices identified in the research. Instructors and/or instructional designers creating online learning opportunities now have a coherent model supported by a review of the literature.

While a number of online course design models exist, no one model has emerged as pre‐eminent or most effective and efficient. The model recommended by this paper offers a unified model of courses design that synthesizes the most effective aspects of the extant models.