ARTICLE: Student Mobile App User Guide

ARTICLE: Student Mobile App User Guide

Student Mobile App User Guide

The Reach Mobile App is designed for use as a transaction platform, it is free and is available for use by all students that have a user account on your Reach Portal.   The Mobile App provides access to the major of transaction elements for student users. It is not a complete replication of all functionality available to users in the Reach web portal. 







 

Access to the Reach Mobile App

The Reach mobile app is a free app that is available for use by staff/faculty, students, and parental users of Reach.

User Type Experience

Once you have a profile created via the Reach Web Portal, your login will be set, at this point, you also have access to the Mobile App. The features that are available to your login are dependent on the user type; student/parent or staff/faculty user. Additionally, the accessibility permissions set in your profile affect the features available for you as a user of the Reach Mobile App.


Download the Reach Student Life App

The App is available to download for Android and Apple devices. Search for 'Reach Student Life' App in either the Google Play Store or iTunes store. 

KB ARTICLE :   How to Access and Use Reach on your Mobile Device


                                                      


Using the Mobile App as Web Service App

As an alternative to downloading and using the native mobile app from a web store, you can also use the browser on your mobile phone or tablet to use the web service app. Simply go to  https://material.Reach.cloud   on your device browser for access. Share the web page to your home screen or desktop for an identical experience to downloading the native mobile app.


Logging In

Sign-in to your schools Reach Portal - Open the App, Click the  Lets Go   button, Search for your school name.

Use simple terms, eg: To search for ‘St Andrews Delaware’, search for Andrews. Reach will then search globally for any schools that match your search word and present the findings, if you cannot see your school, scroll down. Click on your School and the login screen will appear. Use your username and password to login to your Reach account.




Login Credentials

Your School may use a Single-Sign-On option or  OAuth  with Google or  O365,  then select the relevant Sign-in option. Your Administrator may need to switch this on via the Web Portal, to activate.

Go to:   System Configuration >> General >>Allow SSO via Google


Essential Security information

Your Reach login provides you with access to important, private, and secure information about staff, students, and parents in your boarding community. It is vital that you access Reach from a secure portal and only with  your  login to meet data privacy regulations and it is vital that you do not share your login details.

Sharing your Reach access login with unauthorised users may create a reportable  breach of privacy incident  for your school.


The two main menu areas of the App are as follows;

Firstly , as shown on the right, the home screen is sectioned into ‘Cards’ for fast access to the main areas of Reach. The ‘Cards’ presented will differ with the type of login and active permissions per user.

            
Secondly , as shown below, the central PLUS button at the bottom of the screen, will pop up a list of Quick Access features, these are all about creation, as each link takes you directly to a function to start New items including Leave Requests and Messages.   Each item is detailed in the relevant section of this document.



Metrics View / Home Screen


The Home Screen is your base Metrics View and launch point for the main functions of the Mobile App Portal.


You are welcomed to the App with a greeting, your school logo, the background image of your school. 

Also in the top right corner is the Reach: Now messaging icon for fast access to the Communications area of the App. Tap this to open the Reach: Now feature. More information of this section is detailed in the Communications section below.  




Current Location


Your current location within the Reach system is displayed here.  Any upcoming leaves or the scheduled return time of a currently on leave will also be listed here. 

To change your current location, simply click on SISO at the bottom of this tile or the Location Pin Icon in the top right corner of your screen.  This will open your locations page that is separated into Off / On Campus, click your new Location to activate. 

The Location (Quick SISO) Page also shows your NFC & QR buttons to set your SISO, if they are activated by your school.
KB ARTICLE: Student App - Leaves and Quick SISO 

Activity Metrics


This panel visualises your Total number of upcoming Pending and Approved Leaves. 

Pending Leave – how many leave requests are waiting approval
Approved Leave – number of approved Leave items in the system

Create Leave button – will take you through a simple page by page process to create a new Leave Event quickly and easily.  KB ARTICLE:   Student App - Leaves and Quick SISO  


Events

Via the Mobile App, this section is mostly an information-based area, however the action of registering attendance can be done here.

The student login allows access, only to students with previously proven authority. In this case the three sections detailing information for those Students that (Blue)‘can register’ (Green)‘are registered’ and (Yellow)‘are waitlisted’ for events available to them. 

The Events section below details the functionality of this feature.

                     

Communications

The Communications Card is your access to the Reach: Now feature, with ease of use via two methods; Direct Message Chat and viewing in Noticeboards. 

Reach: NOW  is an extension module that must be enabled for your school's portal and infinity permission settings enabled per user. 


To Do’s


This Card is your access to the Reach Surveys and Lists features.

If a daily survey has been created for students to complete, a pop-up notification will appear once you login to the app.

Tap on the ‘Surveys’ button to access all surveys that have been created for you to complete, these may include Voting for end of Term awards, or General Health & Wellbeing.  Follow the simple layout to complete and Submit.

Tap on the ‘ Lists ’ button to access the Lists that have been created by your school, these may include Daily Transport List, or Afternoon Activities. Follow the simple layout to complete and Submit a List.

The MORE section further details the functionality of  Surveys And Lists within the Mobile App.



SISO and Quick Leave

Students are able to change their locations within Reach by selecting Quick SISO in one of two ways; either by selecting SISO in the Current Location widget or by selecting the Location icon in the top right corner of their screen.  

   

The student's current location will be displayed in the banner at the top of their screen and will have a checkmark next to the location in the list below.  Based on your school's location settings, various On and Off Campus locations will be listed as options. 

To SISO to another location, tap the new location - the student will see their location change on their home screen in the Current Location widget. 

If your school utilizes QR Codes and/or NFC tags on campus to access locations, students will see the option to change their location by scanning one of the two just below their location banner.  After a successful QR Code scan or NFC scan, the student will see confirmation of their location change. 

If your school's configuration settings allow for students to "SISO to their Next Leave" via Quick SISO, students will see above the On Campus Locations the option to "SISO to their Next Leave" which will move their location to their approved leave requests' predetermined location.

Student Quick SISO settings are configured within the Reach website portal in System Configurations to allow access to this Quick SISO Widget and whether On and/or Off Campus locations are displayed as options.  Configuration settings will also determine if students are able to SISO to their next leave, SISO when returning from a leave and if they will see QR SISO and NFC SISO widgets.  


Events

Reach Events is an Extension Module and was created to provide an efficient management tool for organising, sharing and managing recreation activities, excursions or events being held by your school. 


If your school has not added the Events Extension Module to your Reach Portal  OR  Events is turned off, the Events configuration or viewing options will be disabled.



Via the Mobile App, this section is mostly an information-based area, however the actions of registering/managing attendance can be done here. It is designed to show the Events relevant to your login type as created and managed via the Reach Web Portal by your school.


Login Type; 

Students – this will show the Events a student is permitted to Manage without Parental consent



How to Navigate Events

Once you open the Mobile App and have logged into your account, the home screen will differ, depending on your Login Type. To access Events, dependent on type, an Events ‘Card’ may be visible on the Home Screen as you scroll down, if so, tap on the red word Events. On the large Red Menu bar across the bottom of the screen, this may also show the Events Icon, as can bee seen in the image below, tap this to open Events.


Once Events is open, you will be presented with Tabs across the top, again, this will differ per login type. 

In this Parental Login example, we are presented with; Discover , Calendar , and Events




Discover Tab
  1. The Student in this example is currently viewing the Discover section and is showing the Events available for the student highlighted red
  2. The first Event ‘Card’ that can been seen is showing a Blue Dot at the title, indicating it is and Open Event and the student ‘Can Register’ for this Event
  3. The current Event shows the Reach Logo by default as the Event image. When an Event is created by the school staff, an image can be added to represent the Event, and video files can also be loaded in the information section
  4. If you scroll down, more Event detail can be seen on the current ‘Card’
  5. If you Tap on the Event ‘Card’ it will open to reveal all available information as can be seen in the image to the right. To return, tap the Return Arrow in the top left
  6. In the minimised or extended ‘Card’ view, the red buttons Decline & Register can be seen, simply Tap as required
    1. To Tap either button will instantly activate that action, showing a pop-up to confirm

Calendar Tab


This area displays the current registered events, which can be viewed and updated if required.

Navigating the Calendar 
  1. When opening the Calendar, the current Month will always show, with a Blue Dot on the current Date.
  2. Tap the Calendar icon to open the current Day view, Tap it again to return to the Month view
  3. Tap the Left/Right arrows to move per Month
    1. When in the Day view, this will move per Day 
  4. Registered Events will show as a small Black Dot on the associated Date
    1. As can be seen in the example below, this is July 7th, 10th & 16th.
  5. July 10th Has been Tapped
    1. This opens the Day view, where one event can be seen
  6. Hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains Has been Tapped
    1. This will open to reveal all available details for that Event 
  7. Tap Register Button to register the student to attend the event 
    1. You will receive confirmation as to whether you were successfully registered or if you were placed on the waitlist if the event is full.



Events Tab

This area is similar to the Discover Card, however, now an Arrow will appear on a card beside the title to show there are more cards registered to that student. Swipe left/right to view.

In the example below;
  1. Scroll down to view the Events 
    1. Here we can see by the red arrows on the left, this Registered Event is indicated by the Green Dot, other Events may show as still being Waitlisted as a Yellow Dot.
  2. The red arrow on the top right, indicates a Black Arrow to the side of the title on the Card, this indicates that there are more Registere Events to view
    1. Therefore, you can slide the card left/right to view other Events
    2. If the Black Arrow is not visible, there are no more Events to view
  3. The red arrow at the bottom right is showing the Unregistered Button
    1. Tap this to withdraw from the Event


 

Communications    

The Communications Card is your access to the Reach: Now feature, with ease of use via two methods; Direct Message Chat, and viewing posts in Noticeboards. 

Reach: Now is a versatile tool designed to help you manage and improve communications within your school community. The system provides a secure, authenticated platform where your communication records are captured and historically reportable. Internal Messages utilise your Reach portal and External Push Communications for integration to the Reach Mobile App.




This is an Extension Module that must be enabled for your school's Reach Portal and Infinity Permissions must be enabled per user. 



Direct Messaging (DM)

Direct Messaging allows you to have one-on-one conversations in real-time with certain contacts in your Reach portal.

Important features of Direct Messaging (DM):
  1. Live chat is restricted to Staff type users connecting with other contacts in your Reach community
  2. Parent-to-parent, student-to-student, parent-to-student for example, are not possible in Direct Messaging
  3. There are no silent conversations in Direct Messaging, as all conversations are logged in Reach.
    1. The conversation can be reported historically and viewed in the relevant participant’s personal profile.
  4. All Direct Messaging records are maintained on individual user profiles






Noticeboards (Boards)


Noticeboards function as announcement spaces. They provide a platform for one-way communications to your community.

Important features of Noticeboards (Boards):
  1. You can be included in an unlimited number of Noticeboards
  2. Noticeboards can be open to all user types in your Reach community
  3. The audience cannot reply to items that are published in Noticeboards
  4. Users subscribe to Noticeboards on their Reach login or Mobile App
  5. Subscribers receive notification alerts when information is published







Manage Leave

Parents are able to submit, edit and approve/decline leave requests for their student(s) through the Reach Student Life Mobile App.  The home screen of the Reach Parent App highlights the Activity Metrics, which displays a snapshot of up-coming leave requests and their approval status.
 
 

Viewing Existing Leaves

The  Activity Metrics  widget on the parent's home screen displays their associated students’ current Pending and Approved leaves, as well as their next upcoming leave.  Selecting  Leave  from the bottom menu bar will bring up the  Manage Leave   screen, providing an array of filter and sorting options for students to view their current and past leave requests.  

 
Quick filtering for Approved , Pending , On Leave and Rejected leaves can be accomplished by selecting one of the 4 corresponding color rectangles at the top of Manage Leave.  Along the top right of the screen, you have the ability to search, filter and sort by additional details.  
 
Easily see an at-a-glance view of where each leave request is in its approval process with the leave actor icons displaying Orange for Pending, Green for Approved, Red for Rejected and Blue for an Approval by Another and Purple for Override. 
 
Clicking on a leave request will display a variety of options to view, including the main details of the leave request, if any special meals accommodations were scheduled due to the leave timing, notes entered regarding the leave and the complete audit trail of the leave's approval process.



Creating a New Leave Request

To create a new leave request, select the plus button in the bottom center of the screen and choose New Leave Request .  Follow the series of prompted screens to input the travel details; Leave Type, Departure and Return Dates/Times, Transportation methods, Host information, Destination and Notes, as well as if it's a reoccurring leave.  Students have the ability to select multiple legs of transportation for their departure and return.  For recurring leaves, select the frequency and duration that the leave plans will repeat.   Prior to submitting the leave request, review the leave details and make any changes if needed.



Editing a Leave Request

Reach app allows you the ability to view current and historical leaves, including their status' of pending, approved and rejected.  You can access Manage Leave by selecting either the Pending Leave or Approved Leave icons in the Activity Metrics widget or by selecting Leave from the bottom menu bar. 
 
Quick access filters for Approved, Pending, On Leave and Rejected will populate a list of leaves with the corresponding status when selected.  Along the top right of the screen, you have the ability to search, filter and sort by way of additional details.
 
Selecting a leave will display the leave's details, including the main details of the leave request, if any special meals accommodations were scheduled due to the leave timing, notes entered regarding the leave and the complete audit trail of the leave's approval process.



To edit an existing leave request, select the note and pen icon in the top right corner of the Leave Details.  You can then progress through to make any necessary updates by selecting Next and selecting Finished on the final summary page to save changes made.  
 
Note: The ability to make edits is set by your school's user accessibility setting and may not be accessible for everyone.


Viewing Student Information

You can view details pertaining to your student when viewing Leave Details.  Select the i icon next to the student’s name and the details will expand downward, displaying pertinent information for that student, such as, Dorm, Room Number, Year, Mobile Number, Email, Birthdate, Address and Quotas for Leave Requests and Locations (Quotas may or may not be enabled for your school’s portal.  If not enabled, you will not see any information relating to Quotas listed).





MORE …

Tap on the  More  button from the home screen to open extended functionality.

The available actionable sections will differ due to Login Type. Eg; Staff, Student, Parent






Surveys and Lists

Items are created and managed by your school, this feature  allows an unlimited number of Surveys and Lists to be provided to students, parents, and staff. These are saved to your Reach Portal and are historically reportable.  KB Article: How to Submit a Survey Response (Student)

 


My Account 

Three Tabs are provided for you to update and control the basics of your account data.


Personal Tab
Here the actionable fields are;
  1. Name, Email, Phone, Date of Birth, Gender, and Address.
Update as required and tap the Save button

Security 
Here the actionable fields are; 
  1. Username, PIN, Security Question, Security Answer.
Update as required and tap the Save button.
Reset Password  button is also provided 

Hosts
This is a view-only area. 
Your associated Hosts are connected via People Management in the Web Portal.


                                                                    

Diagnostics

This page provides one simple option, Run Tests.

Tap the Run Tests button to activate. Each listed test will run, Green Check will appear. 
The results will show directly on the screen.






Support Website

This opens the Reach Help Centre in an External Web Browser.

Quick Link:  Reach Help Centre

 

The Support site areas are;

Your Area

Sign-in to activate Tickets. Here you can Create, Submit and View your previous logged Tickets


Knowledge Base

Your Library of data - Articles, User Guides, PDF’s and Tutorials.

Use the Search Bar, scroll down through the sections, or view items in the Popular or Recent Articles sections

Community

Be involved in the Reach discussion, scroll down or search recent comments.

Tap the Heading of a Discussion to open.
Read / Like / Share / Add Comment / Add Attachments and Tick the Notifications box to keep informed of that Discussion.

The Reach team are active participants in the Community, answering questions or working with the Development team to provide solutions.














Change Log  

The Change Log is a new feature added from June 2020.

This lists changes and bug fixes that have been updated to the program code.
These changes affect how the Reach platform functions, both Mobile App and Web Portal.

This change log is a View Only area.

Each item listed is  not an explanation  of how things operate, only a record of changes that have been made to Reach.



About

A brief about the Reach Platform and current Copyright.

 

  

Debug

An internal system to send data from your Device to the Reach Support team.

This feature is to compliment your Current Ticket with the Support Site.

NOTE: Sending this to Reach Support does NOT mean a Support Team Member will contact you.

To create a Ticket, please visit the  Support Website

Quick Link:  Reach Help Centre

 



 

School Management

This section is provided for those requiring access to multiple schools.

Eg; A Staff Member, Teaching at different locations or a Parent with multiple students at different Reach Schools.

  

 

Logout

When the button is tapped, a pop-up confirmation will ask if ‘you are sure’, as you will be logged out of  ALL  your attached schools.




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