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Learning Computation Layer: A (Less Foolish) Guide

10/11/2020

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Hey there! With so many people taking their first steps in Computation Layer, I thought I would take a minute and give a little update. Two years ago I wrote the (aptly named) blogpost, A Fools Guide to Learning CL. If you read it, I apologize. If you didn't, Stop! There's a lot of new stuff in store for you.

 So much has changed over the last few years. Computation Layer is no longer a "labs" feature that needs to be turned on. The gear to add code now looks like this: </>. Activity Builder now allows you to add as many components as you want. For those of you looking to begin your CL journey in the new Desmos, I threw together a quick list of ways to get started

1. Find something that interests you. Learn that thing.

Start with a purpose in mind. Know what you want to make, whether it's getting your teacher dashboard to reflect correctness, giving students feedback, or just adding small things like unit measures or customized explain prompts. Having an idea for something will really help guide your next steps.

2. Copy a screen or two.

Has somebody created a version of the thing you want to learn? Is there an activity with an interaction you really like? Now that you can copy individual screens and paste them into your own activities, take examples from multiple sources, add them to a "workspace" activity, then dig into the code to see how they tick.

3. Get some help.

The Computation Layer Documentation is a great place to learn about the structure of CL, get a reference list of the available commands, and see some of the code in action.
Have a question you want answered or an idea you want to share? visit the CL forun at  cl.desmos.com

4. Do some self exploring.

​If you're ready to get started with your own learning, there's no place better to start than with one of our scavenger hunt activities. You can find the original scavenger hunts at bit.ly/cl-hunt and bit.ly/desmos-cl-hunt. For a little more fun, try our Rocket Scavenger Hunt. 

We also posted a series of webinars for you to learn from and write a monthly newsletter! If you have a minute to sit down and listen or sit down, read, and play. Check us out! 
  • Advanced Activity Building Webinar
  • Computation Layer Webinar Series
  • Sign up for our Newsletter

5. Join the community.

We host monthly CL challenges on twitter and through our Desmos Educators Facebook group. Follow along with #matchMyCL to join in on the fun and get access to all of the responses. 

Here For You

As you begin your CL journey, always remember that you can  reach out to us for help. Please feel free to reach out to me via email (jay@desmos.com or mrchowmath@gmail.com) or via twitter (@mrchowmath) and I would be more than happy to assist you. Good luck and happy building!

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