How did creating your ePortfolio artefact develop you understanding of the Course Learning Outcomes, the Graduate Outcomes and your own learning experience during the course?
Sports and leisure was an interesting course, it was the only course where I felt I had total control about the subject I'm going to talk about which encourages creativity. At first, the title of the course was a bit misleading which I thought the course is going to talk specifically about sports and leisure activities which was not the case. This course gave me a better understanding in the way sports and leisure interact with our society, for example, The Club or The British Club was founded to provide a community for the expats which at that time was almost rare. Moreover, we explored how sports and leisure can change with generations especially with the evolution of the twentieth century and the discovery of oil. Also, this course incentivised both teamwork and independent learning, where as a group we had to do a project but as an independent we had to get creative without questions. In addition, we have explored how gender, race and age can affect participations in both leisure and sport. Lastly, we took the IOC MOOC courses which showed us the role of psychology in sports and the role of sports in the health of a nation, for example, fifty years ago the average life expectancy was exponentially lower compared to today, and sports was a major factor in that increase. Overall, I think this course was a unique course because it has offered a specific thing which is different to other English courses which is a high degree of freedom in our projects which I have found to be quite enjoyable.
Milh(Salt) or Mileha(Salty) this is what Abu Dhabi used to be called, life was simple back then as my grandfather told me, leisure was limited, sports in the form we know them today were almost non-existent, but there were few things that my grandfather used to spend his time.
To start with, Mo'jal, a form of a tag game, where there are two teams, two sides(holes) and a playground, if you get tagged you will go to the losing side, if you manage to escape the tagger you will go to the winning side, and each person in a hole counts as a point for the other team .
Secondly, Otheem lawah (Waving bone or Spinning bone), at the night there are two bones one for the first team and one for the second team, each time a team throws the bone to the north and the south, the team has to find the bone in the opposite side and for each bone they find they get a point.
Thirdly, Halaosa, a simple game where the two teams have to get the rocks from side to side, for each rock they score a point.
More and more, Sagla, a simple game where you have to throw a set of small rocks back of your hand if you fail to catch one of the small rocks, you lose the game. Also, a racing game where each team race against each other, if your team manage to get the object to the enemy team initial position you score.
These were children games, adults spend most of their time working or trading in souqs.
As for leisure time, there were not many things to do, so men usually gather and spend their time socializing which is an aspect in our culture.
Old stories or legends were interesting, an example would be a Umm Al Duwais or Bu Daryah. These were two Jinns who would appear at night for several reasons, for example, Umm al Duwais would knock on the door to lure children or men to eat them, or Bu Daryah would lure the children to the sea in order to drown them. This folklore was intended to scare off children, especially the sea which can be deadly to a small child.
In order to provide for his family, my grandfather had many jobs. To start with, the most well-known job was diving, pearl diving to be specific. People avoided this type of jobs because it was too dangerous but extremely rewarding. Secondly, he went to work in Qatar handling construction jobs, spending about 3 years there, which proves how difficult it was to get a living in their times.
Next, the generation of my father. My father witnessed the formation of the United Arab Emirates in 2/12/1971, and the economy skyrocketing due to oil. With the development that the UAE has seen, there were many things introduced in term of leisure and sports.
To start with, Cars and motorbikes were being imported to the UAE, most of the teenagers were driving without licenses, and cruising in the desert was a fun thing to do. Fishing transformed from a way of living to a hobby. Pearl diving is almost non-existent, locals do not have to take rough jobs like the used to, overall many industries, jobs or hobbies have changed drastically compared to older generations.
Next, entertainment in media. The first radio station was introduced in 1969 in the UAE. Radio played a big role back then, especially during the time of Gulf War were a chemical bomb was a catastrophic threat to the MENA region. Cinemas were being built in the country, and it was a huge contributor to the first impressions of foreign cultures in terms of leisure, essentially opening new doors to leisure time. Also, new sports were played every time, such as football, tennis or even cricket
Lastly, the internet which is another form of entertainment. The internet has revolutionized many sectors including entertainment, nowadays you don't have to go to the grocery to get your favorite newspaper or magazine or wait for it to get delivered, you can do all this while sitting on your couch with the power of the internet.
To end with, life was simple back then and mostly centered around working and making a living, now the discovery of oil has revolutionized leisure and sports, people back then used to play with bones, rocks and wood, nowadays we have stadiums, TV's and iPads.
At our case study we took a closer look at the company PP-Performance. We asked the staff about their history, their experience,do they find leisure in their work, why did they chose the UAE and why do they think some car-related competitions are considered sports.
We started the interview with Saif al Amoodi who is a co-owner of PP-Performance, we asked Saif about the history of the company and how do they connect the people who find leisure in car in one community.
Secondly, we interviewed Roman. Before Roman started working in PP-Performance he was a mobster in Germany who participates in drag racing for fun, Saif did see how talented Roman was in car-tuning and he decided to hire him for the company which has lead Roman to a better life.
Next was Nihad. A man who has a 20 years experience in car mechanics, this all started as a passion when he was young thus he devoted his resources in car repair and tuning
Lastly, Ali who was a tea boy but he was keen about learning car mechanics, he started working with other mechanics early before his shift or when there is not enough manpower therefore over the course of 2 years he gained the experience needed to work as a mechanic.
PP-Performance is a car tuning garage located in Germany and here in Abu Dhabi. The garage participates in Yas Arena Drag Races. A community of car-lovers was founded by this garage. Also, the garage prepared the cars shown in the movie Fast and Furious 7. Overall, the garage both participates in Sports and Leisure which is linked to our course.
The teacher asked us to present something he didn't knew about or something interesting, so i chose this topic because it is controversial which we can view different point of views. Also, it is an example of evolution about how things are drastically changing such as the internet being integrated in every aspect of our life. In the end, it might not be viewed as an interesting topic to other but it is a topic I'm passionate about and I think you might understand a thing or two.
Our first assignment in the Sports and Leisure was to choose one course from the IOC MOOC association, The IOC provided many courses I chose psychology because i think it is a general subject which can be useful in my daily life. Psychology plays a big role in sports; The course taught me about how several factors can affect athletes in a good or a bad way. To start with, the course gave a general idea about psychology and how effective use of psychology can greatly impact the athletes performance. Firstly, internal factors. Being afraid of losing hinders the athletes performance. Fear of failure is not uncommon, instead of being afraid of losing, the athlete should see the loss as a gained experience to improve as the course explains. More and more, motivation can make or break athletes. Motivation makes the athletes pour their hearts into sports that make them perform better. On the other hand, external factors also have an effect on athletes. Studies show that athletes who had grown in an encouraging environment won more medals than those who didn't. I have learned few things that can be applied in my daily life to improve such as seeing mistakes as an opportunity, not as a failure. More and more, being motivated can help me with my studies. Lastly, the mindset is a powerful tool which i can utilize in order to boost my marks. To end with, I think this course had some valuable information about psychology, and it is worth doing.
