How to use our Reflect app to create reports and forms, with digital signatures and helpful analysis!
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Reflect is an app which allows reports to be created, based on pre-defined or custom forms.
Reports are owned by the user who creates them, and they can choose to share them with whomever they wish. They are kept in Google Drive for ease of use and secure storage, meaning minimal or no training for users.
Routing decisions (who should the report be shared with) can be pre-populated in forms to help organisations run efficient processes. Users can review the reports precisely as the creating user intended and sign them in a cryptographically secure way.
Analysis of the reports can be conducted, with highlight data (such as final grades or target counts) can be quickly viewed for large cohorts and exported to a variety of formats (including Google Sheets).
Google Forms are excellent for collecting simple data in bulk. They are brilliant for conducting surveys or getting feedback on events or classes.
Reflect offers a more sophisticated approach with some key benefits that make it much more suitable for review and assessment;
Forms are the basis of everything that goes on in the app! They are the set of questions that are answered by users to create a report (a template). Reflect has a number of built-in forms, but you can also create your own.
Custom forms are stored in Google Drive, just like reports, and can be shared with users who can then fill them in to create reports. Forms can be shared like any other Google Drive file, or customised links can also be shared with users or put onto your website to make it even easier!
Reports are saved when a user fills in a form. Every form can be filled in as many times as desired, so that users can create and share weekly (or any other period!) reports on their progress and achievements. A copy of the form is saved within the report, meaning that if the report is shared with a user who does not have access to the original form, they can still see the exact questions and layout of the form.
A user (the author) can save their report at any point, meaning they can author it over time, without needing to fill in all the required forms straight away. Once they are ready, the user can share the report with any other Google / G-Suite user. This is done via a regular Google Drive share, or a custom email (which contained instructions about how to sign the report).
A user who receives a shared report for review and signature would typically be a mentor or tutor, but may also be the subject of an assessment or observation, if their agreement were needed in the process.
The signatory would then view the report (by clicking on the email link or loading it from the web-app) in a readonly mode. The report looks exactly the same as when the user created it, but the signatory can only view, rather than change, the data. Any Google Drive files attached to the report (such as evidence of achievement) will also be automatically shared with the signatory (with viewing permissions), meaning they are able to review the whole report and associated data.
If they then agree with the report, then can sign the report using a secure cryptographic process. This signature is attached to the report as a comment, and is only valid if the report remains unchanged. Any user who can view the report can also verify the validity of the signature, but only the original signatory can revoke their signature or re-sign a changed report.
The final step of the process is the completion of the report. The report author can mark the report as completed once it is valid. This means that all required fields have been filled in with acceptable data. The completed report is shared with whoever is needed (typically an administrator), and this person (or people) can be set as a default in a custom report.
A completed report is not editable within the Reflect app (even by the original author), although the author can choose to revoke their completion, which will then enable editing again. This is to prevent accidental changes after completion.
Reports can be analysed by all users who have access to them. This can include:
All analysis can be filtered by date range (just show reports between specific dates), as well as excluding / including reports owned by the logged in user.
Analysis data can be exported into a number of different formats, for further analysis or archiving. These formats include;
How to create or edit a custom form in Reflect.
How to review and sign a Reflect report.
What are the standard forms are available in Reflect, and how can they be used?