This document summarizes a study that explored how asynchronous discussion in a web-based learning system facilitated collaborative learning. The study analyzed discussion transcripts and interviews from a master's level course. Three main categories emerged as important for collaborative learning online: context (structural support and active participation), community (formation of membership and social dialogue), and cognition (social process of learning and communal facilitation). The document provides background on social views of learning, conceptual frameworks for web-based learning environments, and reviews literature on collaborative learning theories and models.