Web service has evolved continuously to the point where it is now shifting from a provider-oriented service to a user-oriented one. Internet users now evaluate the trustworthiness of information posted on the Internet, and share their knowledge more widely on that information. This trend is also applicable to education-related information services. Education information services will be able to provide new opportunities for the education sector once education providers accept this new trend in the web world, thus creating new and vital services. Web 2.0 is certainly facilitating this kind of change in the education service sector.

Concept and characteristics of Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is about openness, sharing and participation. An individual can post his or her own content on the web, and allow other people to share it. People participate in enhancing the value and quality of the content. Tim O’Reilly, CEO of the U.S. company O’Reilly Media, made seven definitions of Web 2.0, by gathering the common features of the companies that survived after the burst of the dot.com bubble. These are : The Web as a Platform, Harnessing Collective Intelligence, Data is the Next Intel Inside, End of the Software Release Cycle, Lightweight Programming Models, Software Above the Level of a Single Device, and Rich User Experiences. The application of Web 2.0 can be seen in the following.

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