Notebook Claims

The notebook

provides a familiar metaphor for students [Metaphor]
affords the completion of work [Direct Manipulation]
but the metaphor might make the functionality difficult to access because of the large gulf between the task domain of the object of the metaphor and the task domain of the new application. [Metaphor]
but the use of the notebook metaphor might constrain the design of the application to avoid inconsistencies at the expense of usefulness.
but the users might derive more positive transfer from a more modern analogy such as an existing computer application.