DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A SUSTAINABLE E-LEARNING FRAMEWORK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MALAYSIA Aidrina Binti Mohamed Sofiadin Curtin University – GPO Box U1987 Perth WA Australia 6845 ABSTRACT Teaching, learning and technology are colliding faster and more strongly than ever, as they are facing increasing pressures in respect to innovation and research while concurrently keeping costs at an absolute minimum and reducing the consumption of raw materials. New technology provides enormous possibilities for higher education to use it in an effective and efficient way and e-learning is considered as the new vehicle to exploit these opportunities to improve students’ skills and knowledge, which are not limited to the current study but can be utili zed in the workplace in the future. However, the recycling of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) end products via e-learning becomes a major dilemma for users as well as the education sector. Currently, numerous e-learning frameworks aim to enhance students’ professional and personal skills, but are inadequate as a means of raising students’ awareness of sustainability in the context of teaching and learning, minimizing the environmental impact, and assisting Malaysia to become one of the developed countries by 2020. Therefore, this research aims to develop and evaluate a sustainable e- learning framework for higher-education institutions in Malaysia. This framework will introduce new, sustainable teaching and learning principles, applications and technologies to improve students’ teaching and learning process, and reducing the environmental impact in Malaysia. Design Science Research Process and mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) will be employed to assess the new sustainable e-learning framework with various stakeholders. The research outcome is a sustainable e-learning framework to support students’ continuous, self-directed learning and provide new and meaningful resources to support e-learning to improve students’ learning interaction and satisfaction in Malaysia. KEYWORDS Web 3.0, sustainable, e-learning, Higher education, Malaysia 1. INTRODUCTION Malaysia is a developing country that has become an export-driven economy motivated by high technology and industries. By the year 2020, Malaysia aims to become a developed country. One of the National Missions is to enhance Malaysia’s capacity for knowledge, creativity and innovation and develop ‘first class mentality’ (Malaysia Economy. 2006). Therefore, to ensure Malaysia’s future success as a knowledge-based economy, Malaysia should undertake complete enhancement to the education system by providing an environment and innovation system such as e-learning. Nowadays, most all Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Malaysia launched their own e-learning platform, set up with e-learning units, committees and policies. However, there are many challenges in implementing an effective e-learning in Malaysia such as a lack of strategic planning and funds on an e - learning project (Raja Hussain. n. d), low awareness and adoption rate that were caused by users who preferred traditional learning, internet connections’ limitations and poor interactivity of e-learning content. Nowadays, technologies are constantly and dramatically changing and evolving, as they become a utility to improve communications, collaboration, interaction, performance, and productivity for business and individuals locally and globally. Green Technology has become advantageous for reducing carbon emissions and production of Green House Gases (GHG). As climate change has become a critical global issue, most countries are now aware of the concept of sustainable development. In Malaysia's education sector, there are several sustainable development initiatives geared toward sustainable education organized by some universities, which include the Green Campus Initiative International Conference on Sustainability, Technology and Education 2013 63