Troubleshooting guide

In this guide, you will find solutions to common problems that you may encounter using Ocean School.

If you do not see your issue in the list below, contact NFB’s technical support.

Do you have a tip for our troubleshooting guide? Please send your tips to oceanschoolproduction@gmail.com.

Learners

How do I reset my password?

  1. Visit https://www.nfb.ca/

  2. Click “Sign in”

  3. Click “Forgot your password?”

  4. Enter your email.

  5. Click “Send”

  6. Check your email inbox for a message from the National Film Board.
    If you can’t find this email, please check your spam or junk mail folder. If you need help to confirm your email address, please contact us.

  7. Click “Reset password now” to enter your new password.

Ocean School won't load! I can't get to the media or activities.

Have you cleared your cache?

Many browsing issues can be solved by clearing your cache. Follow the steps in the support links below, then reload the website.

Chrome

How to clear your cache and cookies on Google Chrome

Safari

Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac

Clear the history and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

I am using an iPhone or iPad and my 360° video or VR experience is stuck. I can’t look around.

Are you using Safari?

If so, consider switching to Chrome to enable the ‘Magic Window’.

I can’t open the activity! It says “You need permission”.

Did you just join a crew?

If your crew started this activity before you joined, they need to share the document with you.

Please follow the instructions on the Google Support site:

Share files from Google Drive

Teachers

My students aren’t receiving the confirmation email for their NFB accounts.

If you do not receive a confirmation email after several minutes, you can request a password reset.

For instructions, please read “How do I reset my password?”

My students’ activities are not appearing in my Google Classroom.

Are your students accessing the website using your class URL?

Your class URL is located in your Class Dashboard on the Educator Space.

Ask your students to bookmark this URL and use it each time they log in to Ocean School for class.

For more information, please see Using your Class Dashboard.

When my students click Go to Activity, nothing opens. They just see the Related Content page.

Are you using a preview link?

The preview links provided in the module guides will allow you to see the media, but the activity will not open.

Are you using Ocean School with Google Classroom?

Your students’ activities are copied out of your Classroom folder in Drive. If they can’t open any activities, then you may need to download a fresh copy of the activities.

To check if this is the problem, please follow these steps:

  1. Open your Classroom folder in Google Drive. Your Master copy of all of the activities is named after the Adventure (e.g., North Atlantic).

  2. Check the list of folders against the list of media located in the module guide. Look for missing or empty folders.

  3. If anything is missing:

  4. Go to your class Dashboard in the Educator space.

  5. Find “NEED A FRESH COPY?” and click Download.

Are you using Ocean School without Google Classroom?

Please report this issue to info@nfb.ca.

My students can’t open activities in Google Docs when using my class URL.

Do you have a “Classroom” folder in your Google Drive?

Usually Google Classroom automatically creates this folder.

Your Ocean School Class folder needs to be located inside of the “Classroom” folder so that your students can access the activities.

If you do not have a “Classroom” folder in your Google Drive, please follow the steps in "Connecting your activities" to locate your Class folder and move it into a Classroom folder.

When my student opens their work, Google Docs says “This document is in the owner’s trash.”

Did you delete any folders from your Classroom folder on Google Drive?

Google Classroom automatically creates a “Classroom” folder in Google Drive, with a folder for your class inside of it.

When a teacher makes a class in Ocean School with Google Classroom™, all of the students’ work is saved inside the Crews folder.

If you delete anything from the Crews folder by mistake, go to your Trash.

Right-click on the deleted item.

Click Restore.

I customized an activity. Why aren’t my students receiving the new version of the activity?

Is this issue affecting just one student or crew?

If you made the changes in your master folder recently, then the students may have finished this piece of media and activity before you made the edits. You will need to share your version of the document with those students directly.

Click here to learn more about Sharing files from Google Drive.

Is this issue affecting your entire class?

Step 1. To start, check the file name of the document and the name of the folder it is in.

Only a document that has the same name as the piece of media will open automatically from the platform.

For more information, please see Customizing Ocean School Activities.

To rename a file or folder:

Right-click on a document or folder name in the list on Google Drive, then select Rename.

Step 2. If the file name and the folder name match the name of the piece of media, check the location of your file.

You may have edited a copy of the activity, rather than the Master file.

Please follow the steps in "Relocating your activities" to check the location of your file and move it to the right place.

How do I delete my class?

Log in to the Educator Space. Scroll down to "Your Classes".

Find the class in the list.

To completely remove your class from Ocean School:

  1. Click the trash can icon.

  2. Click Yes, I'm sure in the confirmation box.

Note. If you are using Ocean School with Google Classroom™, your students’ work will still be accessible in Google Classroom.