Developing pedagogies for a synchronous online course on teaching pre-university mathematics

Online education is widely heralded as cost-effective and convenient, but there is a recognized need to research appropriate pedagogies for synchronous online (SOL) teaching. Prior research suggests that course design, including formative assessment, is critical in achieving accessible and flexible learning episodes. We harness a well-tested theoretical framework to analyse the development of pedagogies for SOL mathematics teacher education in a course designed to induct English early career teachers into pre-university teaching. The lenses of 'teaching-', 'social-', 'learner-' and 'cognitive-presence' reveal opportunities for improving provision. We show participants' learning of mathematics content knowledge can then appear comparable to that achieved face-to-face, but it is more challenging to design for the growth of mathematics pedagogical knowledge in an SOL environment. Many digital tools work well in this medium, but the use of physical tools requires significant development before teacher engagement compares with that achieved face-to-face. However, some approaches developed to address challenges within an SOL course appear to have benefits also for face-to-face learning.