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COVID-19 has transformed higher education learning and teaching practices globally. Tertiary students, internationally face both opportunities and challenges in learning and adapting to this paradigm shift in the delivery of education. It remains unclear how students in international contexts are responding to these changes in digital learning during and post-COVID-19. This paper aims to compare student perceptions of digital competence, confidence, and resilience in present times using data from surveys of tertiary students from Australia, Cambodia, China, India, and Malaysia. There are disparities not only in the teaching and learning pedagogies amongst these countries but also in the levels of technological advancement, infrastructure support, and pace of digital innovation in the delivery of courses. These differences have put in focus students' both digital competencies and resilience as they pursue higher education on various digital learning platforms. Resilience includes the ability to bounce back or adapt from stress (Smith et al., 2008). Digital resilience is students' tech-savviness and preparedness to adapt to different digital environments as they pursue higher education. This paper examines the perceptions of tertiary undergraduate students from these countries in this emerging new digital learning norm. A total of 687 tertiary students from the aforementioned countries participated in a survey to questions related to digital competence, confidence in using and/or adapting to digital innovation, and resilience. Statistically significant attributes are identified to help better understand the challenges these culturally diverse students perceive in digital learning environments. This study will reveal barriers that impact the digital transformation of undergraduate students which can be used to recommend necessary teaching and learning support frameworks to enhance their digital competence and resilience. This will help tertiary institutions better equip all stakeholders in adapting to the new normal of higher education in the future.

This study examined board composition in national sport federations (NSF) in the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). BRICS is a significant geopolitical group with a strong history and interest in sport, yet there has been relatively limited sport governance research in this context. Specifically, this study measured levels of board diversity (occupational and gender) and board size in the NSFs – factors that are widely considered to impact board effectiveness. Data were collected on 184 NSFs across the five countries from online sources. The results showed that across the BRICS countries NSF directors largely come from athletic backgrounds (45.1% of total), except for China where bureaucrats prevail (61.9%). Men dominate NSF board positions, from a high of 92.1% in India to 68.4% in South Africa. Board size ranged from 20.4 in India, to 14.2 in South Africa. This study brings sport governance research to new frontiers by generating insight into board composition in contexts that are under-researched and culturally diverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyse the composition of national sport federation (NSF) boards in Australia, India, South Africa, the UK and the USA. Specifically, this research assessed board size, occupational diversity and gender diversity, which are theorised to influence board performance. This study employed a positivist descriptive research approach and gathered data from online secondary sources. In total, board composition data was collected on 253 NSFs across five countries, which equated to 2937 directors. The results showed that the average board size in Indian NSFs (19.5 directors) is larger than in the sampled Western countries (on average between 7.2 and 14.2 directors). The occupational background of directors in Australia and the UK is similar, with a strong degree of business involvement (61% and 67%, respectively). Compared to Australia and the UK, India, South Africa and the USA have a larger proportion of directors from sporting backgrounds. Indian NSFs have a relatively significant number of politicians (16%) and few (7%) women on their boards compared to the Western countries. This study provides empirical evidence to support sport governance policy processes. This research contributes to the sport governance literature by showing the extent to which NSFs are adopting good governance standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian and Indian legal systems share much in common given their shared colonial history. However, despite the similarities, both jurisdictions have adopted vastly different approaches in protecting their people under the auspices of constitutional guarantees and the protection of fundamental human rights. This paper will discuss how each jurisdiction protects the fundamental human rights and basic freedoms under their respective constitutions and whether these protections are adequate. The few constitutional guarantees that exist in Australia will be contrasted to the robust fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. It will be concluded that India sets a stronger example than Australia when it comes to constitutional rights and guarantees for three main reasons; first, the different vision of the constitutional framers of India and Australia; second, India's Constitution is easier to amend and therefore better placed to evolve and reflect changing societal norms; and finally, the divergent approaches of the Judiciary illustrate the broader interpretation of the scope of constitutional rights by the Indian judiciary. India and Australia can learn much from each other and the ways in which each country protects fundamental rights and basic freedoms are no exception to this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential growth of esports gives rise to a number of regulatory and governance issues which expose a number of different stakeholders, including vulnerable, young participants, to potential harms. This paper examines critical challenges which currently exist in the esports ecosystem, namely integrity and participant wellbeing, with the aim of addressing the knowledge deficit in relation to best practice governance and policy process aimed at protecting relevant stakeholders in esports. Using a corporate governance framework previously developed by Burger and Goslin, this paper also generates governance reform options in relation to the identified critical issues whilst having regard to the inherently commercial and networked nature of the sector. The paper proposes an integrated policy process model to address the practicality of developing and implementing a robust, dynamic governance system with a focus upon close engagement with stakeholders to influence legitimacy of protectionist policy. This paper builds upon earlier literature on governance and policy process in sport and proposes a research agenda to address the need for governance in this burgeoning landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in the popularity and a promising revenue model of esports, the issue of e-doping has emerged. Some esports athletes may desire to deliver an outstanding performance to get an advantage over other competitors with the help of „cheat software?. The paper explores various forms of e-doping such as disruption of live streams, attacking serversand discusses how these methods are a challenge to the spirit of fair play. E-doping can take two forms: the use of hardware of software hacks to gain an unfair advantage, or the use of performance enhancing substances. To curb the menace of e-doping, different esports associations have used anti-cheating software such asValue Anti-Cheat (VAC), which monitors and tracks the movement of the player's input devices, by which a player could manipulate their moves. The establishment of the International Esports Federation (IESF) and the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) have seen some progress in the regulation of integrity issues in esports. Following the public admission of Kory "Semphis" Friesen in 2015, of using Adderall during a tournament of Counter Strike, ESL (an esports company) collaborated with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to develop the first anti-doping policy. Unfortunately, the implementation of this policy has not been effective as it could be, due to noncooperation from different esports companies. In addition, this policy focuses on the use of banned substances, rather than other forms of in-game cheating. Consequently, the authors recommend reforms to e-doping policies. In addition, the authors further the debate about the importance of an improved governance structure which will assist the stakeholders to tackle the menace of e-doping, thereby promoting the principles of fair competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]