Choose and update LENA Hub settings
Beginning with version 4.0, you can easily edit the following LENA Hub settings to best suit your recorder transfer and processing needs:
- Require login - Yes/No
- Processing location - Cloud/Local
- Defer processing - Yes/No
Access the Settings screen
Click the Settings icon to open the Settings screen.
Settings updates take effect immediately, with no need to restart the program.
Settings updates apply to future recorder transfers, and not to files that are currently in progress. Each file is processed according to the settings that were in place at the time of recorder transfer.
Require Login
The Require Login determines whether LENA Online credentials are needed for recorder transfers, and whether recorder assignment prompts are displayed.
- Yes (default) means a LENA Online username and password are required to use Hub. The user must confirm each assignment before transfer.
- No means a LENA Online user account is not required to use Hub. Recorders transfer immediately, with no verification step. The recording is attributed to the child to whom the recorder is assigned in LENA Online...right or wrong.
Requiring LENA credentials allows LENA Hub to display recorder assignment information, so you can cross-check against the name on the recorder's label.
Yes is almost always the best choice!
No may a good choice if:
- Transfers will be done by someone who does not have a LENA account (for example a volunteer, part-time administrative help, or even caregivers themselves)
AND you have these safeguards in place against assignment errors:
- Your groups use Fixed recorder assignment, meaning each recorder stays with a single child for the duration of their participation LENA program
- You always follow the recommended sequence of assigning recorders in LENA Online before giving them to caregivers
- You have well-defined procedures for manually unassigning recorders after a child completes or leaves your program
To change the login setting...
- Open the Settings screen.
- Use the toggle to set the preferred option.
- Click Update.
When the setting is changed from no to yes, the user is immediately required to log in to finish enabling authentication. (Cancel to return to Settings without completing the change.)
After authentication is enabled, the requirement can be lifted only by a logged-in user.
Processing Location
The Processing Location setting tells LENA Hub where to analyze your recordings - in the cloud or on your local hard drive.
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Cloud processing sends the recordings to LENA's secure servers for analysis.
- Cloud processing is the recommended setting for most situations. Completing the 1- to 2-hour recording analysis in the cloud instead of on your computer is safer and leaves your computer available for other tasks.
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Local processing uses your hard drive to run the analysis and sends only the results to LENA's servers.
- Local processing is recommended when there is no way to connect the Hub to high speed internet (>2 Mbps).
Typically there is no need to change this setting!
In most cases, processing location is determined before Hub is installed and is left alone. You may decide to change it if:
- you have obtained faster internet since the original "local processing" installation, so that cloud processing is now possible (changing the option is simpler than uninstalling/reinstalling)
- your internet speed seems to vary a lot, and you'd like the option for cloud processing when high upload speeds are available
To adjust the processing location...
- Open the Settings screen.
- Use the toggle to set the preferred option.
- Click Update.
An old, cloud-only version of LENA Hub is installed on this computer. Update to the current version to gain access to this setting.
Back on the main screen, the progress status area reflects how future transfers will be handled - as uploads or by processing locally.
Note: If you switch processing location while some files are already in progress, the total upload/processing counts may be incorrect until the next time you open Hub.
Defer Processing
The Defer Processing setting determines whether transferred recordings are processed immediately or are held on the computer until the user initiates processing.
- No (default) means all transferred recording files are automatically uploaded/processed with no additional input from the user.
- Yes means all transferred recordings are held. No further action occurs until the user manually starts the upload/processing.
Deferred processing works whether your files are processed in the cloud or locally. For cloud processing, the setting is essentially "deferred uploading." Hub holds the file on the computer until the user manually starts the upload.
Deferral is a good option if time or technology constraints make it inconvenient to upload/process immediately after recorder transfer. You may want to defer processing if:
- Recorders are transferred at an offsite location with slow internet, but the Hub can be connected to high-speed internet later for cloud processing.
- You drive to several locations during the day to transfer recorder data to a Hub laptop. The schedule is too tight to finish the files before you have to move to the next location. Deferral lets you quickly collect and hold each site's recordings, and then upload them all at the end of the day.
- Your program uses local processing due to slow internet. You prefer to transfer recorders during the day as they come in to keep things flowing, but you'd rather have the computer process all the files overnight.
To turn deferred processing on or off...
- Open settings.
- Use the toggle to set the preferred option.
- Click Update.
Back on the main screen, a new line in the progress status area shows the number of files held. Any recorders transferred now will be held until the user manually initiates the upload or processing.
The user can safely close LENA Hub and shut down the computer. The recording files will still be there the next time the program is opened. It is also safe to transfer more recorders before processing the held items.
When ready, click the blue arrow to initiate uploads/processing for all held files so that LENA reports can be produced.
SP Program Settings
The SP Program Settings for keeping audio or handling pauses differently apply only to recordings transferred for children enrolled in a LENA SP group and are discussed on the LENA SP help site. (LENA SP is a separate program used by researchers, speech therapists, audiologists, and other language specialists.)
Although anyone can alter the settings on this special tab, any changes to the default SP Program Settings are ignored for all Start, Grow, and Home child recorder transfers.