Background: Since about 2010 e-learning has been embedded in educational practice and has become, surely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly important. Objectives: Although much has been written about e-learning, little is known about crucial didactic and pedagogical design principles for e-learning. This review tried to fill that gap. Methods: Based on a systematic literature review, 42 studies (out of 1857 unique hits) were included that address e-learning design in higher education. Open and axial coding was used for analysis. Results and conclusions: There were two continuums distinguished as important for e-learning: (1) the active learning continuum and (2) the authentic learning continuum. Those continuums appear to be useful to give a visual representation of included studies through an active and authentic learning continuum. This resulted in four clusters with (slightly) different properties. These properties vary from a relatively low to a high level of authenticity, and from teacher to student centred. Analysis also revealed four crucial aspects for e-learning design: (1) content scaffolding, (2) process scaffolding, (3) peer-to-peer learning, and (4) formative strategies. In general, most of the e-learning approaches demand an educational design that facilitates authentic learning and self-regulation. Takeaways: To help practitioners in realizing e-learning design, this paper will provide some concrete suggestions and tips for e-learning design. Furthermore, this research shows that more well-founded research is necessary to gain more insight in didactic and pedagogical design principles for e-learning.