Bridging the Gap and Edmodo

What do Edmodo and Ruby Payne have in common? Ruby Payne is a rather controversial educational theorist and workshop presenter. Her focus is bridging the gap between children in poverty and their teachers, who are from mostly lower-middle- to middle-middle-class economic origins. She has succinctly characterized some elements of communication and lifestyle differences by social class (not without criticism from some quarters) and developed highly prescriptive methods for educators to deal with those differences. She defines these "hidden rules of poverty" as superseding racial distinctions:
http://www.ext.wvu.edu/cyfar/rut/hiddenrules.htm

While I do not accept her theories wholesale, she has identified one important element about the culture of poverty: it is marked by a participatory, collaborative communication style (and generally lots of background "noise"), not unrelated to the necessity of sharing material goods for survival in other aspects of life.

Many middle-class teachers are perturbed by what they perceive to be student "outbursts" in class when, in fact, for some students, "participatory" oral communcation is a way of life outside school, against a backdrop of talk, television or radio noise.

Edmodo, with its immediacy and focus on dialogue and instant feedback, could be a rather useful tool in helping some students in poverty bridge the educational-behavioral gap in communication styles in a non-confrontational manner. Students would benefit from the instant feedback and the opportunity to acquire behaviors that reinforce concentration and self-restraint, with positive implications for their studies and life outside of school.