The main purpose of the present study was to examine how elementary school students improve their scientific discourse on a computer-networked database environment called “Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE).” Students in two, five to six grade combined classrooms taught by the same teacher engaged in their computer-mediated collaborative learning for five weeks by utilizing different system configurations: single-note based (S-CSILE) vs. discussion-note based (D-CSILE). Tracking files automatically recorded by the system were used for an analysis of students' learning activities. Results showed that system affordance specially designed for joint written discourse in D-CSILE significantly facilitated students' joint knowledge-transformation activities as well as maintained each individual's activity to pursue her own agenda. Importance of such a system affordance was discussed from the perspective of distributed cognition.
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