This paper focuses on computer-aided tools for identifying organisms and on relevant implications for rethinking environmental education in protected areas. The new tools have several advantages over traditional paper-printed keys: 1) being disentangled from systematics, they can be made much easier and also be used by non-experts, 2) they give access to a large number of images, hyperlinks and metadata, 3) they run on several media, including PDAs and smartphones, which permit their use directly in the field, 4) they can be modified and personalized by the user. We give examples of their introduction in protected areas as a powerful tool for enhancing the knowledge of the local biodiversity and for developing projects of environmental education.
