Introducing Snippets: Scaffolding Portfolio Evidence

Providing scaffolding for portfolio content is now easier than ever with Snippets. Snippets allow learning designers to provide guidance to their learners in how evidence could or should be constructed. At the same time, they facilitate capturing the truly experienced learning journey. Think of snippets as flexible and modular structures that evidence can consist of. These elements are reusable, easily accessible, and adaptable to the actual situation.

Snippets are the next and impactful step in providing crucial scaffolding for capturing the unique learner journey. We have been steadily building this support structure over the years:

• In 2022, we introduced Templates to provide scaffolding aimed at helping learners to structure their overall portfolio.
• In 2024, we added a whole new dimension to more granularly scaffold the portfolio within the context of a Collection with Learning Trips & Activities.
• This year, we’re going a level deeper by providing scaffolding within the creation of Evidence itself.

We stay committed to continuously expanding and enhancing the scaffolding tools available in Portflow, empowering educators to deliver the most impactful learning design to their learners.

Creating an adequate reflection, report, journal entry or any other form of evidence of a learning experience can now be focussed on what matters most: the content itself, rather than figuring out the appropriate structure. Snippets are our modern and flexible alternative to rigid forms. Where forms can aim to capture the intended learning journey, snippet-powered Evidence enable the learner to adequately reflect their attained learning experience. As we know, life happens, and many times, the actual experienced activity can differ from what it was envisioned to be.

The concept of Snippets is comparable to e-mail templates or “canned messages” typically found in helpdesk software, but tailored for education. Learning designers, such as instructors, teachers, coaches, and instructional designers, can pre-define (partial) content for free text evidence. For example, a Snippet might contain the headings and brief descriptions for a specific reflection model, such as Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle or the “What, So What, Now What” framework. Snippets can be generically published for the entire institution, or they can be tailor-made to target specific use cases. They can be distributed to learners directly through Activities in Templates, via the new Snippet library, or by sharing the unique Snippet ID.

When a learner creates evidence, they can simply select and apply one or more (suggested) snippets to populate free text evidence. Crucially, these snippets are modular and adaptable:

• Mix and Match: A learner can apply multiple snippets to a single piece of evidence (e.g., combining a ‘Project Introduction’ snippet with a ‘Technical Reflection’ snippet).
• Learner Agency: Once applied, the text is fully editable. If a specific heading doesn’t fit the learner’s reality, they can change or remove it.

By removing the ”blank page syndrome”, Snippets lower the barrier to entry for high-quality reflections or other types of evidence. Learners get the guidance they need to get started, without being locked into a strict format that doesn’t fit their specific context. This ensures that the portfolio remains a true reflection of their personal growth.

Ready to start creating Snippets for your learners? Check out our knowledge base for guides on setting up and managing Snippets, distributing Snippets via templates, and applying Snippets.