The past years have triggered the established blended learning format to develop into other kinds of online teaching formats, with, for example, combinations of a/synchronous learning with more flexible (co-)location requirements for teachers and students. This has led to a renewed exploration of ways to ensure accessible and life-long learning through developed educational practices. Comparing online education formats can be challenging but is necessary. Building on case study methodology, the objective of this study was to explore online learning situations (n = 21): Asynchronous Distance Education (ADE) (n = 15) and (synchronous) Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) (n = 6), to develop a method to systematically analyse and evaluate different formats of online education using engagement theory. To do so, a schema was developed through which visual representations of learning situations were analysed. Results show that visual representations of learning situations enable nuanced comparisons across different formats of online education. Analysis reveals that the format of education affects the conditions under which the teacher more readily facilitates student engagement and that asynchronous and synchronous formats support different nuances of engagement. © 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG