Ann Clements

Associate Professor of Music, School of Music
College of Arts and Architecture
2010 TLT Faculty Fellow
Focus Area: Children’s Musical Play

Ann’s Fellowship was research-oriented, examining children’s musical play based on videogame playing and the influence of technology on children’s musical practices. According to Ann, several music researchers investigate musical play in informal settings, such as a playground or recess, but few researchers investigate how technology is changing these musical play activities. Ann used qualitative research methods to examine modern musical play, including interviews and videos of students interacting with different types of music technology, such as music-oriented videogames.

The research led to new teaching methods, helping Ann educate her students and illustrating new ways future music educators can relate to young students and engage them through music.

Nittany Lion graphic
It was career changing for me. I had this great team that was dedicated to help me do what I wanted. They pushed my thinking in ways that I hadn’t been thinking about previously.
Ann Clements

Ann is still highly engaged with the TLT, particularly the Educational Gaming Commons (EGC). Ann has experience using games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band in her course, illustrating how video games can act as a motivator or gateway into the world of music for children. Recently, Ann worked with the EGC to integrate iPads into an Ensemble course, enabling students to collaboratively create music using a variety existing applications on the iPad. Local news station, WTAJ, aired a story about the course iEnsemble in early 2012. Ann, with the help of Education Technology Services, also produced a video to promote the course.

Additionally, Ann maintains a YouTube Channel for the course, where you can listen to some of the music the students create.

The Team

Brett Bixler (lead)
Elizabeth Pyatt
Jason Wolfe

Description of PSU iEnsemble

Outcomes

Refereed Articles

Clements, A. C. (2011). Finding your groove with popular music through video game technology. Orff Echo. Summer Issue (44) 1, 2011.

Research Presentations

Clements, A. C. Sing, Dance, Play, Create! Children’s Music Play as Influenced by Technology.
Poster at the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) National Research Conference, St. Louise, MO. (April 2012).
Presentation at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Lancaster, PA. (April 2012).
Poster at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Lancaster, PA. (April 2012).

Clements, A. C. & Guertin, L. (2012, February). Google Earth as a Tool for Teaching World Music, State Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, Invited.

Clements, A. C. and Yerger, T. (2011, April). Musical Gaming: Learning and Using What They Already Know. Presentation at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) State Conference. Hershey, PA. (Lead author but presented by Yerger due to maternity.)

Clements A. C. and Yerger, T (2011, April). Children and Games: How Technology is Changing the Way Children Play. A presentation of my research from the TLT Faculty Fellow program to the University at large. The Pennsylvania State University with simulcast electronically to satellite campuses.

Clements, A. C. (2011, February). Podcast: Technology in the Classroom: Games and Beyond. Recorded for the College of Arts and Architecture e-Learning Initiative.

Clements, A. C. (2010, October). Podcast: Music and Games: Blurring the Lines of Musical Doing. Recorded for the Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology website as a special focus on University Faculty Fellows.

Clements, A. C. (March , 2010). Gaming as a means for musical understanding. Keynote, invited lecture at the Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) for the Social Sciences at the 2010 Biannual Music Educators National Convention (MENC), Anaheim, CA.

Clements, A. C., Cody, T. & Stubbs, C. (2009, June). Virtual to Actual: The Use of Gaming to Broaden Pre-service Music Educator’s Perspectives on Musical Engagement. Games, Learning, and Society Conference 5.0 , University of Wisconsin, Madison. Madison, WI

Clements, A. C., Cody, & Gibbs, B. (2009, May). Interactive Musical Gaming:  Bringing Virtual Worlds to Real Life Pre-service Music Educators. Mt. Lake Colloquium for Teachers of General Music Methods. Mt. Lake, VA

Presentations

Clements, A. C. and Yerger, T. (2011, May). Sing, Dance, Play, Create! Children’s Musical Play as Influenced by Video Game Technology. Presentation at the Mountain Lake Colloquium for Teachers of General Music. Pembroke, VA. (Lead author but presented by Yerger due to maternity.)

Clements, A. C. (2010, October). Modern Research: Blogs, Video, Audio, Data and Children. A presentation to the Penn State University e-Education Council Meeting of the status of my Faculty Fellow research project. University Park, PA.

Clements, A. C. (2010, August). Games and Technology for the Choral Rehearsal. Presentation at the Pennsylvania State Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA-PA) state conference. University Park, PA.

Clements, A. C. (2010, July). Gaming Research: How to Research Games in the Academic Setting. Presentation for the 2010 Penn State Learning Design Summer Camp run by the University’s Educational Technology Services (ETS). University Park, PA.

Clements, A. C. (2010, July). Video Games in the Music Classroom: Learning What They Already Know. Presentation at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Summer Leadership Conference. University Park, PA.

Clements, A. C., Barsom, P., Cody, T. M. & Stubbs, C. (June, 2012). Using Tablets and Apps in the Music Classroom. Presentation to the Music Educators inservice Bedford School District. Bedford, Pennsylvania.

Invited Lectures

Bucknell University (2012, February), Lewisburg, PA. Invited Visiting Scholar. Session Title: The Modern Musical Play of Children

Grants and Awards

$5000. Penn State Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence,  Teaching Project Grant Complex Topics Made Evident: The Use of Tablets to Foster Collaborative Group Learning Activities