Student MacBooks
Learning at Home Device Support
This site will help you connect your device and provide supports for accessing educational resources. Learn how to access Microsoft applications, activate the accessibility features on your MacBook and launch various learning platforms including Edsby, LMS and Offie 365.
Login to your MacBook using the following:
Username: remotelearning
Password: (leave this blank)
Download the Learning at Home: MacBook_iPad Support Document to learn more about connecting to a network.
@nearnorthschools.ca - Login and Learn
Your @nearnorthschools.ca account is a passport to learning. When students or staff login to our board website using their NNDSB username and password, they have access to digital tools that enable productivity, communication, collaboration and creativity. Furthermore, they may access hundreds of educational resources, including online subscriptions, encyclopedias, research archives and more...
Please note, some Primary (K-3) classes use a "simple sign-on" that allows students to login using a simplified username and picture password.
Click the “door” icon in the top right corner of this site.
For user account support including password resets please contact passwordreset@nearnorthschools.ca or during regular school hours please call:
(705) 472-5169 (North Bay)
(705)-773-7975 (Parry Sound)
Enter your login information when prompted:
firstname.lastname##
(replace ## with your day of birth)
Click on the "Learning Resources" tab from the main menu to access resources.
To help keep your NNDSB account and the information accessible from your account secure, a password policy is applied for students. While changing passwords may be inconvenient, it helps reduce the risk of exposure and avoids a number of other dangers.
Learn More Here
Password Criteria:
JK - Grade 3:
- Password must be at least 3 characters long
- Good for 2000 days
Grades 4 - 6
- Password must be at least 4 characters long
- Cannot be the same as the last 2 passwords
- Good for 2000 days
Grades 7 - 8
- Password must be at least 6 characters long
- Cannot be the same as the last 2 passwords
- Good for 365 days
Grades 9 - 12
- Password must be at least 8 characters long
- must contain at least 1 character from 3 of the following 4 categories:
- uppercase letters (A-Z)
- lowercase letters (a-z)
- numbers (0-9)
- special characters (e.g. ! @ # $ %)
- Cannot be the same as the last 2 passwords
- Good for 365 days
MacBook Accessibility
You say it. Mac types it.
Dictation lets you talk where you would type — and it works in over 40 languages. So you can reply to an email, search the web or write a report using just your voice. Navigate to any text field, activate Dictation, then say what you want to write. macOS also comes with more than 50 editing and formatting commands. So you can turn on Dictation and tell your Mac to bold a paragraph, delete a sentence or replace a word.
Click here to learn how to setup dictation on your Mac
Have your Mac speak text that’s on the screen
Highlight text and have your Mac read it out loud to you. This feature works in a web browser, PDF and other applications that contain text.
Platform-Specific Supports
When you're invited to a Teams meeting you'll receive an e-mail with a link to join the meeting and it will show up in your Outlook calendar. The best way to join a Microsoft Teams meeting is by clicking the app launcher in Office 365 and selecting Teams. A Chrome or Edge browser is required.
Click here to learn how to join a Microsoft Teams meeting
Accessing Microsoft Office Applications:
You can access Office applications (Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint) online through Office 365 (Chrome browser is recommended) or by signing into the downloaded apps on the MacBook.
Online through Office 365:
Click the door icon in the top right corner of this site and from the Learning Resources tab found on www.nearnorthschools.ca:
- Click Office 365 Apps.
- From the list of apps, choose the OneDrive icon (Cloud)
- From One Drive you can create a new folder to stay organized
and then select New > Word / PowerPoint / Excel / One Note
Your OneDrive is an online storage space for your files.
Benefits of Using your OneDrive:
- You have up to 1TB of space in your OneDrive
- Files can be accessed from anywhere that has an internet connection
- Files are easily shared with others
- Online collaboration is easy with a shared document
Click this link to learn how to access your OneDrive, create files and share them
Accessing Microsoft Office Applications:
You can access Office applications (Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint) online through Office 365 (Chrome browser is recommended) or by signing into the downloaded apps on the MacBook.
O365 Installation Instructions
Sign into the downloaded Office applications:
- Click the rocket icon in your dock (menu at the bottom of the
screen) or click F4 - Search for your desired Microsoft application and click it
- Click the Sign-in button and enter your full last##@nearnortshools.ca
(Replace ## with your day of birth)
Save your work to your OneDrive:
Click here to learn how to save local files to your OneDrive
Immersive Reader is a Microsoft Learning Tool that supports reading experience to increase readability of content in Word and OneNote documents.
Click this link to learn more: Microsoft Immersive Reader
This video provides an overview of the Immersive Reader:
Office 365: Outlook
Outlook is your NNDSB mail client in Office 365.
Click here to learn how to access your mail, read messages and send e-mails.
Edsby is a virtual learning platform that allows you to stay connected with what's going on in class, view assessment information and submit work or upload images and videos of your learning.
Learn How to Set Notifications:
Edsby Notifications
Learn How to Add to your Portfolio:
Edsby Porftolio for Students
Learn How to Submit Work Online:
Submitting Work Online
Communicating with your teacher:
Learn how to view feedback and communicate with your teacher
Learn How to Take an Online Test and View Results:
Edsby Online Testing
Edsby Mobile App:
Download the Edsby app on android or iOS.
Learn More About the Mobile App:
Video: Edsby App
The LMS is a virtual learning space where you can view lessons, upload work, participate in discussions and more.
Student Overview of the LMS:
See What's New in Your Class:
Video - LMS News Feed
Access Content and Lesson Material:
Video - LMS Content
Post and Reply to Discussions
Video - LMS Discussions
Submit Work Online Through the Dropbox and View Feedback
Video - LMS Dropbox
Complete Quizzes/Surveys in the LMS
Video - LMS Quizzes
Viewing and Posting to Your Brightspace Portfolio
Video - Brightspace Portfolio
Document - How to use the Brightspace Portfolio App
Keep up-to-date with Brightspace Notifications
How to Set LMS Notifications
Passport to Learning
Clever allows students to connect to their teacher and district Clever Pages. Once logged in, students have access to all of their resources they will need for learning from home.
Logging In:
- Go to www.nearnorthschools.ca
- Click the Learning Resources menu item
- Select Clever
- Enter your NNDSB username and password
- Sign in
Need Help with Your Device?
Please contact your teacher who will follow up with support.