Spoonbill Game on Android Devices for Ecological Education

Ecological education is important to let the young generation to learn that the flora and fauna in the environment are fragile and sensitive to pollution. The Taijian National Park of Taiwan is a beautiful and winter shelter for black-faced spoonbills migrated from Korea and China. In this study, an Android app was developed with a picture book to educate the public about spoonbills. A technology of augmented reality was used in the app in order to help users focus their attention on the critical elements in the environment. The app and the picture book were used by 54 elementary school students in an empirical study. Preliminary results showed that the app and the picture book was a positive educational experience for the students. Future work would focus on the use of more advanced machine learning technology and the exploration of more ecological issues in public education.