Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Universiti Utara Malaysia UUM lecturers' perception of the decision regarding adopting e-learning as a teaching tool. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 244 lecturers in Universiti Utara Malaysia. Internal consistency using Cronbach alpha and exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation was conducted to confirm the measurement used. Logistic regression was run to examine factors influencing the adoption of e-learning as a teaching tool among lecturers in UUM. Findings: After performing reliability and validity tests of the instrument, only six factors were included in the framework out of nine factors affecting adoption. The research model showed a reasonably good fit with the data and empirical results confirm that only relative advantages, trialability and academic specialisation positively influence the adoption decision. Thus, the findings have provided evidence of the importance of relative advantages, trialability and academic specialisation in understanding the adoption decision before introducing new online technology and instructional delivery in education. Research limitations/implications: The measurement of perception was accessed after the adoption process might contribute to post-adoption experience, and the findings are limited to a specific sample that somewhat minimises the generalisability of the result. Future research should aim at examining the proposed framework in a broader range of public higher learning institutions that use e-learning application in delivering knowledge. Originality/value: The research provides a new perspective on lecturers' adoption of new technology and focuses on the substance of the instrumentation. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)