Add a new child (participant)
Follow these steps to add a new participant to an existing group.
You will need:
- a functional group, set up by your account administrator
- permission to view names in the group where you're adding the child
- child's completed consent form with date of birth
- about 5 minutes per child
Note: If the child already exists in another group, move the child instead of creating a duplicate. To move a child, open his or her record and choose a different group in the Enrollment section, then save. Contact LENA Support if you have questions or cannot change the group.
1. Select the child's group in the context drop-down menu.
2. From the main menu, click Admin and then choose Participants.
3. Click on the New Participant button.
4. Enter child data.
Click each section below for specific instructions.
Child’s First Name and Last Name are mandatory, but real names are not. You may use initials or an ID code instead, if required by your program. The information you enter here is displayed on the parent reports and in parent texts.
The child's gender is also required.
Important! LENA processing and reports are highly dependent on the child's age in months.
Compare against the child's application/consent form, and carefully verify both Date of Birth and Age in Months.
Organization will be pre-filled, but double check that it's correct.
Functional Group will be filled in if you began by selecting the group in the context menu. Double check that the correct group is listed here, or choose the group from the drop-down list.
Enrolled Date is the date from the consent form, or the date the child is entered in LENA Online.
Fill out with the information collected on the Application and Informed Consent form.
External Reference ID is an optional field that can be used to enter an ID from a different database or record to facilitate matching up LENA exports with other related records.
- Do not enter confidential information or names in this field, as the field will be displayed in place of the child's name for some user types.
- Do not enter the recorder serial number here. Recorder assignments are managed on the Recorder Assignment screen.
Exclude from Analysis can be left as No in most cases. Setting to Yes simply adds an indicator to exported data that this child's data should be left out of any extra analyses you have planned. Setting to Yes does NOT remove the Participant's data from reports, dashboards, or roll-up data.
5. Click Submit.
If a participant with the same name and date of birth already exists in the same suborganization, LENA flags it as a potential duplicate. In most cases, you should:
- Click Close to return to the participant entry screen.
- Click Back to exit without saving.
- With the organization in the context menu, search the enrolled, completed, and dropped participant lists for the existing child.
When you find the existing child, determine next steps - for example, move him to his new group and/or change his enrollment status as needed.