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Unlike other WGU courses, Certifications are wide spread and flooding everyone with pours and pours of options. It becomes overwhelming as some resources are concise while others are so detailed that it is complete brain fog.

Not everyone is like me in how i prefer to study, but I will select my preferences then place all of the resources I checked out in case someone has preferred methods over mine.

Cloud Practitioner Mind Map

https://coggle.it/diagram/aB-Qi046SWnHyUEC/t/cloud-practitioner/60b90234e0451257a508b4879131208c8c42f6355e2c5b001b917bf361ca3af5

Study Order Based on My Personal Preference

  1. AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (7hrs) - This is a short course that is concise and provides what is needed. It is the basics and gets feet wet for the material - https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/courses/134/aws-cloud-practitioner-essentials/lessons

    1. You will need to make a skillbuilder account
    2. There are various tiers for skillbuilder and this course is free

  2. AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner (12 Hands-on Assignments)- This is a hands-on opportunity that you don’t to pay out of pocket. Made by AWS, the servers and simulations are very stable and are simulations rather than physically interacting with AWS. https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/courses/11458/aws-cloud-quest-cloud-practitioner

    1. The course may not have you memorize terms, but it will let you understand services at your own pace
    2. This is a game where you are trying troubleshooting and assisting people with cloud-based queries whether it is an issue they have with an existing cloud system or they are interested in one and you need to set it up
    3. There are several Udemy courses that have you do hands-on stuff, but you can end up having to pay out of pocket and the procedures are quick
    4. The hands-on work is very detailed and you can move between step-by-step and diy
      1. There are other AWS Cloud games on Skillbuilder, but you are only able to play the demo then you will need to pay the monthly fee for Skillbuilder. One game is an Escape Room

  3. Datacamp -sign into Datacamp with your wgu email then sign in SSO via WGU

    1. There are two options: sign up for the complete Certification AWS Cloud Practitioner CLF-02 (10 hours long) which is in 4 parts or simply do the three courses that cover Cloud Practitioner
    2. Unlike Cloud Quest, doing hands-on is optional and is via VM so be aware there may be moments that it loads and it can be a little slow but I never had any issues or errors with it
    3. Courses - AWS Concepts (2hrs), AWS Cloud Technology and Service Concepts (3hrs) , and AWS Security and Cost Management Services (3hrs)
    4. The slides are concise and to the point for all of the major concepts of the course

  4. Youtube

  5. AWS Important Services to Learn - Layout does well with giving some perspective - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDEpdNdFglI&t=2880s&ab_channel=BeABetterDev

  6. How to Learn AWS - Beyond This course - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTH9m4HkeYY&ab_channel=BeABetterDev

  7. Study Guide 2024 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsmhEgIV1mQ&t=2s&ab_channel=Learn2Cloud1017 - The course is not complete and takes breaks. It is something to use to get a quick overview in between breaks

  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUA4pAPvNbw&ab_channel=TechTalks - I looked over this course as I was winding down for my exam as a quick refresher way between exams

  9. WGU Udemy

There are a couple of options on Udemy for studying. The two that I went through I would not recommend doing them both, but I would recommend at least enrolling, downloading the slides, watching CRAM videos, and taking the practice exams on them

  1. Neal Davis (14hours)- He has solid slides, but he is really only worth it for the cram videos because he tends to go into more detail than necessary
  2. Stephane Maarek (16 hours) - I prefer his videos for how he doesnt go off on tangents and is very concise. The drawback is that he doesnt go into details on the slides.
  3. Evan Phipps - https://wgu.udemy.com/course/cogluma-aws-certified-cloud-practitioner/learn/lecture/42693314#overview - The course seems more direct and to the point for all parts of the CCP unlike Neal or Stephanie. I attempted to find better resources as Stephanie and Neal are detailed, but their Exams are very hard (Stephanie I averaged about 68-72% on the first try while Neil was between 70-80% first try). Compared to Pearson Practice exams, their details seem to deviate in minutiae detail that isn’t really needed at this level. That is not to say that their ppts are not useful or their cram reviews, but I really just wanted to find a direct course. This course is great for refreshing yourself on particular areas between taking practice exams by selecting the “review” part of the chapter. It really helps that he shows every section for share responsibility between AWS and Customer

Other Options: Jason Dion, Nikolai Schuler

  1. Textbook - I purchased a Humble bundle that included “AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-02 Cert Guide by Anthony Sequeira) - This is set up by Pearson IT Cert and you are able to register the textbook onto Pearson that enables a large practice question pool that can be taken online.

  2. Last Minute Studying - Tutorials Dojo - I did not find the practice exams as useful as the Cert Guide. It is 283 pages and provides exactly what is needed for each part of the domains. It explains them clearly and points out some of the depreciated terms. It is something I was able to read within a sitting and is very useful after courses have been completed as a way to refresh and round up key terms - (https://tutorialsdojo.com/aws-cheat-sheets/)

    1. https://portal.tutorialsdojo.com/product/tutorials-dojo-study-guide-ebook-aws-certified-cloud-practitioner/ - It costs about $2.99 and completely worth it.

    Why not use the course materials from WGU?

    1. It took me approximately 10 minutes to realize that the course material sucked badly
    2. WGU Academy is dated and it is not well laid out
    3. WGU Academy is also missing information probably due to it referencing older material
    4. The question sets contained material that didn’t make any sense and I never saw them in any other resource
    5. The WGU Academy does not have a practice test for themselves. Some of the references refer to the earlier CFL-01 exam

Alternative WGU Resources

I was surfing the AWS Reddit and found a solid Notion guide that is up-to-date

AWS Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02

https://a.co/d/0SvOmLU -