On September 29, ANQA organised an online session with Armenian student leaders engaged in the Article 26 Backpack platform. The meeting aimed to equip students with the skills needed for the effective use of the platform.
Specialists from the University of California, Davis's Article 26 Backpack introduced the opportunities of the Backpack Guide Badge, an online course for students that awards the Backpack Guide Badge Microcredential upon successful completion. With this microcredential, students can help their peers and alumni navigate the platform and manage their educational documents.
The course is available on the Canvas platform, featuring videos, articles and tests.
The Article 26 Backpack is a free cloud-based digital tool for storing, structuring and sharing academic materials. It represents the students’ entire professional trajectory, offering a number of key benefits:
- safe storage of educational background and employment history;
- opportunities to share professional achievements with universities, scholarship agencies, and employers;
- document certification to achieve international recognition;
- regular updates on academic opportunities;
- secure document sharing via temporary links;
- availability in eight languages, including Armenian.
With an initial goal to address the social and institutional barriers that arise as refugees and vulnerable young people attempt to continue their education or gain employment, Keith David Watenpaugh, Professor and Director of Human Rights Studies at the University of California, Davis, created Article 26 Backpack. Article 26 Backpack is named in accordance with Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts everyone’s right to education.
Currently, the Backpack platform serves over 5,000 students from various countries worldwide, including Armenia.