The introduction of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as a vehicle for education delivery presents opportunities and challenges. In the context of the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre (Wicking Centre), the driver to develop a MOOC was the promise of addressing the international deficit in evidence-based dementia education, as well as the lack of research into international perspectives on dementia. The Wicking Centre's activity integrates research and education, framed by the concept of 'quality of life across the trajectory of dementia.' With dementia emerging as the public health issue of the 21 st century, lack of dementia education at multiple levels, professional and nonprofessional, is of increasing concern. The disruptive character of MOOCs, with associated risks and uncertainties, warranted the application of a research-oriented project management approach to development. This included investing resources in gathering and analysing data to underpin each phase of decision-making. We used a design-based research approach incorporating the concept of 'life-cycle of an e-learning design' (Phillips et al. 2012). Data collection and analysis focused on three dynamically interacting components: 1) expertise in dementia knowledge and dementia education; 2) a cohort-centric approach to design and delivery, and 3) models and designs for MOOCs currently promoted, discussed and reported in the higher education discipline. Laurillard's Conversational Framework, relating types of learning, teaching-learning activities and the digital technologies that support them (2012), informed the selection of digital technology elements for massive-scale engagement of our identified cohort. The paper describes the initial design process and the outcomes of the limited release pilot that informed the first full offering of the MOOC.

The introduction of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) as a system for education delivery presents opportunities and challenges. In our context, the driver to develop a MOOC was the promise of addressing the international deficit of quality evidence-based dementia education, as well as the lack of research into international perspectives on dementia. Dementia is a condition of the brain caused by many diseases; the trajectory of most agerelated dementias is progressive mental and, ultimately, physical degeneration, leading to death. The work of the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre (Wicking Centre) is committed to the integration of research and education and framed by the concept of 'quality of life across the trajectory of dementia.' With dementia emerging as the public health issue of the 21st century, lack of dementia education at multiple levels, professional and non-professional, is increasingly recognised as an emergency. The disruptive character of MOOCs, with associated risks and uncertainties, warranted a research-oriented project management approach, investing resources in gathering and analysing data to underpin each phase of decision-making. This paper describes the Wicking Centre's method of iterative investigation and analysis of three dynamically interacting components to realise a final MOOC design: 1) the Wicking Centre's expertise in dementia knowledge and dementia education; 2) the Centre's desire to take a cohort-centric approach to design and delivery, and 3) models and designs for MOOCs currently promoted, discussed and reported in the higher education discipline. We used a design-based research approach incorporating the concept of life-cycle of an e-learning design (Phillips et al. 2012). The realised structure for the Understanding Dementia MOOC meets multiple objectives through integrating education and research using a hybrid xMOOC and cM00C approach. The paper reports on the decision-making process for the initial design and the outcomes of the limited release pilot that informed the first full offering of the MOOC. The course design provided expert content to participants and also opportunities for reflecting on the content in discussion, producing a context for collaborative learning that is evidence-based. Participant interactions constitute a rich dataset of international experiences and perspectives that is at the level of individuals, communities and cultures.

This paper attempts a fundamental analysis of the nature of research into e-learning. It starts by considering the phenomenon of e-learning, arguing that e-learning is an artificial, designed phenomenon, and that research approaches need to consider how the e-learning environment works and how it can be improved, before we can consider how effective it is. We also establish that e-learning inquiry involves a mixture of evaluation and research, and we discuss this in the context of different disciplinary and interdisciplinary research approaches, arguing that e-learning evaluation research involves a varying mixture of a 18search for fundamental understanding 19 and 18consideration of use 19. We apply the preceding arguments to the e-learning lifecycle, identifying five different forms of evaluation research which are appropriate at various stages: Baseline Analysis, Design Evaluation, Formative Evaluation, Effectiveness Research, and Project-management Evaluation. These forms can be used to guide the design of an e-learning evaluation-research study, in a cyclical research approach. We recognize the strength of design-based research in this context, without claiming that it is appropriate in all circumstances. The paper then unpacks the process of conducting evaluation research, through the use of divide-and-conquer techniques to break down the complexity of an e-learning evaluation-research study. The five forms of evaluation research allow us to conceptualise specific research questions at a particular position in the e-learning lifecycle, and evaluation-research matrices assist us to identify sources of evidence to address these questions.

This paper attempts a fundamental analysis of the nature of research into e-learning and the role that theory plays in this. We examine 'research' in broad terms, and the nature of phenomena in general. We identify that e-learning is an artificial phenomenon, and that research approaches need to be cognisant of the design elements in e-learning, and the cyclical nature of e-learning development. We identify various desired research outcomes which are appropriate at each stage of the e-learning lifecycle, and argue that studies of e-learning involve a mixture of evaluation and research. We discuss e-learning evaluation research in the context of different disciplinary and interdisciplinary research approaches, recognising that there is no one 'right' way to do e-learning evaluation research. However, we recognise that there is a varying mixture of a 'search for fundamental understanding' and 'consideration of use' in e-learning evaluation research. We use these considerations to discuss the role of theory in educational research, and, in particular, in e-learning evaluation research, before applying the preceding arguments to the e-learning lifecycle, identifying five different forms of evaluation research.

In this paper we describe the use of learning analytics to provide indicators of students’ behaviour in technology-enhanced learning environments. We first provide an overview of the emerging field of learning analytics, and then describe a learning-analytic tool which reports student use of the Lectopia lecture capture system across the weeks of a semester, both collectively and individually. Observation of the data provided by the system enabled us to develop a set of proto-theoretical categories of behaviour, with associated algorithms to numerically identify these categories. Finally, we describe the use of the learning-analytic tool in a mixed methods approach to investigate in depth how students, with different characteristics, engage with and learn from technology-enhanced learning environments.