I have noticed a series of thought-provoking blog posts in the last few days regarding the rush to social media and the currently popular disdain by some for “experts” and academia in learning.  Social media has the potential to transform personal and workplace learning in many ways, but I’m not so sure that it is going to replace more traditional learning and development methods in the radical way that many social media proponents are suggesting. Social media will have a significant impact for sure, but I think some are being a little too exuberant in the predictions they are making about how it will completely transform learning. I see more of a gradual evolution until social media tools become another tool in the learning and development toolbox, employed when it is appropriate and advantageous to use them.

Norman Lamont talks about the evolution of learning objectives and his flexible approach to using them. Ellen Wagner recently questioned why ADDIE seems to make some people so cranky. And Zaid Ali Alsagoff of ZaidLearn posted a nice piece discussing the benefits of the lecture and why it may still play an important role in learning environments, when used correctly.

Every one of these posts raises important questions about assumptions that seem to be dominating some areas of the field currently. As some wise person said somewhere, "everything in moderation and nothing in excess." Rather than blind adherence to any single concept, no matter how shiny and new, it is the art of the learning professional to understand how to tailor a mix of methods that is appropriate to each unique learning situation.