What the Titanic can teach us about teaching writing

Ocean Explorer Robert Ballard's Ted Talk inspired me recently.  During the beginning of his talk he asserts that everything he needed to know in order to do his job well he did not learn in college.  Science was changing so fast while he was in college that by the time his Professors taught him theories he already knew what he was learning was obsolete.  But instead of challenging the teachers he lied on his tests in order to get an A.  Ballard's point made me think about the steep learning curve we face teaching students how to write using a multitude of mediums the workforce today.  Once we become adept at micro blogging and have successfully developed curriculum to teach students how to use twitter as a communications vehicle in the real world will it be obsolete? Maybe, who knows! Since it's almost impossible to keep up with all of the new mediums, seems like we should leave ourselves open to our students' expertise in using collaborative technology in order to keep up with the curve.  What would Ballard's teacher's have learned had he been taught in a more collaborative environment?