Would you rather that your children learn to play the piano, or learn to direct an orchestra? In this paper, I apply the poor learning environments perspective to this question. I conclude that learning environments should be like pianos, not orchestras.

Computing environments can offer rich learning environments that are impossible without computers. Computers could be used to create an environment where a novice can direct an orchestra (if only virtually). The PLE perspective informs us that, though this is a possible direction for software development, it is not the most fruitful direction if what you want is deep understanding and personal commitment. Instead, computers should enable new kinds of pianos - poor learning environments where the learner can directly engage the domain to achieve deep understanding.