The pursuit of sustainability: Towards greener educational systems in developing countries

The pursuit of sustainability has dominated all fields and most discussions and recently became one of the main measures of true development and advancement in countries around the world. Building greener educational systems is one step towards achieving sustainable development. This study aims to investigate how Information Technology (IT) can be utilized to achieve sustainable educational systems by replacing traditional bags and paper textbooks with electronic versions. We explore the feasibility of such project and the most important success factors by investigating students' and teachers' perceptions. This study is conducted in Oman as an example of a developing country. However, the results of this study might be applicable to other countries with similar economic, social, and political profiles such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and other developing countries. Both quantitative questionnaire and qualitative interview tools are used to solicit required information. The findings show that a gradual, processual replacement approach is the best method to implement sustainable IT-based solutions in traditional educational systems. This research has many implications on both theory and practice.