The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for enhancing student engagement through active learning and design thinking workshops online. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for digital engagement exponentially, yet the important experiences of collaborative and active learning (AL) have become more challenging to facilitate and support in circumstances of remote access during classes. As such, design thinking (DT) online presented a unique opportunity to explore this collaborative approach to engaging in user-centred design and design innovation. To explore a specific curriculum design dilemma and validate the methodology adopted, online DT workshops were conducted with two different cohorts of students toward co-creating more student-centred forms of learning in two digital marketing (DM) courses. The approach was guided by the POLARIS active learning framework to embed the framework’s seven perspectives (Purpose, Objectives, Learning landscape, Activities and assessment, Resources, Inter-relation with stakeholders, and Student engagement) which were considered to better enhance student engagement in an online learning environment. Using the framework proposed, which additionally integrates Quadruple Helix Model (QHM) actors, would facilitate further DT innovation towards co-creating new value in digital marketing pedagogy, curriculum design, and beyond.