You're right that there's no need to re-invent the wheel for techniques that have existed for centuries. However, the Web has increased opportunities for some informal learning methods that were available to only the rich or the lucky. Who else but the rich could afford a tutor as part of the household staff?

With Web tools, I can ask questions on my blog and a "tutor" may come along and help me. For instance, James Farmer and Seb Paquet both helped me a lot when I started blogging. I also think that we need to review these older methods, given the distributed nature of our world. The Socratic method still has value, but Socrates didn't have to deal with multiple time zones. We also have to help generations of learners who have spent most of their time in industrial age classrooms.