Technology for Kokanee students

NSD's School2Home program provides a Chromebook for each student in grades 2 through 12 for their educational use both at home and at school. The use of this tool is designed to enrich the learning environment and to assist teachers as they support students in acquiring the skills, knowledge and attributes outlined in the district’s strategic plan.

The privilege of accessing the school network and digital resources is also an opportunity to learn the responsibility of informed, ethical, and responsible Chromebook use.

If your student needs help troubleshooting or other support, contact your student's teacher or start a tech ticket at go.nsd.org/studenttechhelp. 

Student login credentials consist of: 

Student email address, using the student’s ID number followed by @apps.nsd.org. 

If you do not know your student’s ID number, please look at their information in ParentVUE.  [If you do not have a ParentVUE account, contact Kokanee's Registrar Teri Vazquez Negrin at tnegrin@nsd.org to request a parent account.]

Username is studentID#@apps.nsd.org, for example 3333333@apps.nsd.org

If the password has been forgotten, contact the classroom teacher. Passwords can be changed by students by using the Change Password tile in their Clever portal.

Tech support request Clever, Schoology, and SeesawParentVueLearning Ally Progress reports   How to login to Clever   

Student Out-of-Country Travel Process

Parents or students who anticipate being out of the country for five or more consecutive days and require access to the student's account can follow the steps below to ensure uninterrupted access. Regardless of whether you are using a personal device or a district device, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)  is a necessary step while you are out of the country to access your student account.
Student: Out of Country Travel -FAQ's

Student, Parent, or Guardian Fill out and submit the Notice of Pre-Arranged Extended Absence form	Link of Form: Notice of Pre-Arranged Extended Absence    Please be aware: You must turn in this form at least 2 weeks before the planned absence.   Principal review and signature are required.   A copy of this form will be given to the parent by the school office. Attach the Notice of Pre-Arranged Extended Absence form to your technology ticket.
Student, Parent, or Guardian Create a Student Account/Out of Country ticket (one ticket per student)   When submitting your ticket, please do the following: Create a guest account using the following information: Parent / Guardian First and Last name Parent email address Student’s school   Continue as a guest and verify using the code sent to the provided email address   Select Out of Country Travel and provide the following: Student’s name Student’s School ID Student’s school Arrival and departure dates Destination Country Phone number Attach the Notice of Pre-Arranged Extended Absence form. The main office should have sent you a copy with the principal's signature.	Click the link below for the Ticketing System: https://go.nsd.org/studenttechhelp/
Follow the steps for Google 2-step Authenticator App or Microsoft MFA App  Setup	Setup Instructions:  Google 2-Step Authenticator App Setup Microsoft MFA Authenticator App Setup
When returning from travel	Removal Instructions Student Google 2-Step Verification Removal

Power outages in the Pacific Northwest are a common occurrence during fall and winter months. Other service outages including internet and web-based instructional resources occur from time to time, even when power is maintained. 

See the District's plan for scenarios and expectations here.

This information was taken from the NSD School2Home Chromebook Handbook

What if a student forgot to charge their Chromebook and the battery is dead?

One of the best ways to avoid this issue is to consistently (and constantly) remind students to charge the Chromebook at home every night. They are expected to bring the Chromebook to school charged every day. If they fail to do so, they may request a loaner Chromebook from the library or School Technology Specialist (STS) for the day. Barring that, the student would have to charge their Chromebook in the school’s Chromebook location and lose out on participation in the classroom Chromebook activities until the battery is charged.

What if my student forgot to bring the Chromebook to school?

If a student forgets to bring their Chromebook to school, the student may miss out on Chromebook-related instructional activities that day. Please help your student bring their Chromebook to/from school daily! Each school has a small number of daily loaner devices. Priority for these loaners goes to students who experience equipment issues outside their control. When available, a student who forgot their Chromebook may be issued a “loaner” device for the school day. Loaner devices do not leave campus.

What happens if a student’s Chromebook is broken or malfunctions?

Students are obligatet o notify of damage or malfunction in a timely manner. They should bring the broken Chromebook to school to turn it in to their school’s STS and the student will be issued a swap for the original Chromebook. Repaired Chromebooks are not returned to the student, they will carry on with the 'new' swap they were assigned. For minor malfunctions, the student will visit Kokanee's STS who will troubleshoot their issues. Please note as of Fall 2023, students are fined for accidental/intentional damage to devices, chargers and carry bags. Fines for damage are based on repair cost; Fines for loss of device, charger or carry bag are based on replacement cost.

What if the Chromebook is stolen?

The loss needs to be reported ASAP to your student’s school along with a police report and case number. The student can then check out a loaner/spare. It is critical that the student maintain good security for the Chromebook always! Please work with your student to reinforce the importance of taking care of the Chromebook. They are responsible for safekeeping of their assigned device no matter the location.

How are students kept safe online?

When students’ use District issued Chromebooks, while at school or home, they access the internet through district filtering and security systems. These systems are provided to help ensure students’ online safety as they explore the World Wide Web. They are also designed to meet the federal requirements outlined in the Children’s’ Internet Protection Act (CIPA) which the district must comply with NSD Chromebook filtering relies on security systems from Lightspeed and Fortinet. These state-of-the-art filtering systems are used to block inappropriate or objectionable material and provide online computing environments for students which support their education. However, no filtering system is 100% reliable. It is reported that over 33,000 web sites are created each day and new sites with objectionable material for students can be missed or may have not yet been picked up for filtering.

Students are responsible to help ensure their online safety and should report any inappropriate sites. The District’s Responsible Use Policy prohibits the use of proxy bypass or other tools that can circumvent the District’s filtering systems.

General categories of sites which are blocked by District firewalls include: Alcohol, tobacco and abused drugs; nudity and adult content; dating; social networking; games, shareware and freeware; streaming media and music purchase and download; web hosting and web based email, online storage and backup; hacking, malware, and phishing; internet portals, personal sites and blogs, private IP addresses; proxy bypass/avoidance and dynamic DNS; and translations sites which can circumvent filtering systems; as well as other identified objectionable content.

District technology staff can block additional sites identified as containing inappropriate content. If sites within blocked categories are needed for specific instructional purposes, teachers can request those sites be opened for access.

Students computing off-site on district-issued Chromebooks are tunneled back through filtering services so that they cannot bypass safe student filtering while connected to private networks.

I don’t allow my student to have a password on their home Chromebook so I can monitor its use. How can I know what my student is doing on the school Chromebook?

Get the username and password from your student. While we prohibit sharing passwords with unauthorized users, parents are explicitly authorized users. We encourage you to know what your student is doing on his or her school Chromebook.

As an added measure, at home, parents can add filtering to their home network. One option is using a free filtering service like the one from www.OpenDNS.com that will filter nefarious content from your home network on all devices, including the NSD School2Home device. If your student has accessed a website that causes you concern and that you feel is inappropriate, please notify your student’s teacher or school Principal.

Home Internet access is expensive. Are families required to provide Internet access at home?

No, we don’t require families to have Internet access, though it would be very helpful for students. You should know, however, about the Comcast Internet Essentials program, which provides basic Internet access to families with students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. This program offers home Internet service for $9.95 a month plus tax. For more information, visit InternetEssentials.com or call 1- 855-846-8376.

Can my student use their own personal Chromebook instead of a district-issued Chromebook?

There are several reasons why we are providing the same computing devices to all students in school. They include safety, instruction, technical support, and equity.

Safety: We have installed web filters and have other safety precautions that help prevent students from accessing inappropriate or unsafe websites while at school or home. We can’t be sure that devices brought from home meet the same standard.

Instruction: We have purchased and installed several different extensions and services on district Chromebooks that will not be available on outside Chromebooks. The same software, and even the same version, will be on each district Chromebook, so teachers can quickly and more efficiently teach entire classes and help individual students. Trying to teach a lesson with several different kinds of software and/or different versions of that software would be very difficult.

Technical Support: We can provide robust technical support through our technical support staff to a limited universe of computing devices. We can’t offer the same level of support to an unlimited universe of devices, which could lead to more Chromebook downtime and lost learning opportunities. This practice is similar to the private sector, where employees are issued a company-owned device to ensure a predictable user experience and optimal technical support.

Equity: Some families cannot afford the latest Chromebook or even a Chromebook at all. If all students are using the same device, they can focus on what they are learning with the device, not on who has which device and what else is on it.

Can students connect with their home printer or do they have to accomplish it in a different way?

Student Chromebooks can print to home printers.  Consult your printer’s support documentation to set this up.

Internet Safety Resources

The District has selected an internet safety curriculum that is developed by Common Sense Media. As part of this handbook, we have provided some of their tip sheets so that parents can support students in using the internet safely. More resources can be found at the Common Sense Media website.

Care of Assigned Technology

• Please review the Northshore School District's General Chromebook Care document to understand how to support your student in taking care of their Chromebook.

  Students are responsible for the general care of the Chromebook they have been issued by the school district. 

  Students with Chromebooks that are broken or fail to work properly must contact the School Technology Specialist or submit a support request at http://go.nsd.org/studenttechhelp as soon as possible so that they can be taken care of properly.

Device Protection Program (DPP) and Fines for Damage or Loss

The DPP program covers the device (Chromebook, MacBook, or iPad) loaned to your student against accidental damage for the school year. This program does NOT cover damage resulting from misuse or loss of the device.  We expect all students to properly use their device and to secure it when it is not being used.  If the device is used improperly or is not secured while the student is not using it, families will be expected to pay the full cost of replacement or repair. 

The standard payment to enroll in the NSD Student Device Protection Plan is $25 per year; free for students who have qualified for free or reduced-price meals and who have provided consent to share their status for fee waivers. No refunds will be given once enrolled in this program.  If the assigned device is accidentally damaged, families will be charged according to the following deductible schedule:

●    1st Incident; $0
●    2nd Incident; 50% reduction of cost of repair
●    3rd Incident; Full cost of repair

Any loss of a device will result in a fine equal to the total cost of replacement of the device. This includes the device charger and bag.

Enrollment in DPP must occur before damage occurs for DPP to apply.  If there is no DPP on file for a student when damage occurs and the fine is assessed, the full repair cost will be charged.  Fines for damaged devices will be applied promptly and can be paid in our online payment system.  We cannot take replacement items such as power cables that were purchased on Amazon or at a retail store, as use of those items may cause safety issues or void warranties.

 

Enroll in DPP                 Online payments