AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is usually the first AWS certification, and there are several ways to recertify it. One of the most common approaches is simply passing a higher-level certification — for example, earning Solutions Architect Associate or, of course, a Professional certification automatically renews your AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. But this time, I was curious about another option: recertifying through AWS Cloud Quest. What is that experience like?
Step 1. Validate your user
To be eligible for recertification, your certification must still be valid and within six months of expiration. If that condition is met, log in to AWS Training and Certification to get your user ID to start the Cloud Quest game!
Step 2. Explore the island
You’ll find the challenges across different islands, and there are interactive elements that make it fun and customizable — drones, VR zones, rewards, and more.
As you walk through the island, you’ll find the different challenges waiting to be completed.
Step 3. Solve challenges, and make progress!
On the island, you need to complete 13 challenges, all using the AWS Console with real hands-on experience. The labs cover topics like high availability, VPC peering, creating Application Load Balancers, configuring Auto Scaling Groups, working with SQL and NoSQL databases, cost estimation, and more...
Step 4. Take the first one!
Like any real scenario, you first receive an introduction to the problem.
Before working on the solution, you’re given an explanation that helps reinforce the key technical concepts and strengthen your cloud foundations.
And later, in the “Practice” step, you’re guided through how to achieve the solution, with reference screens from the AWS Console.
Step 5. After the start Button
With the start button, you can start and open the AWS Console to build the lab, until you reach the DIY (Do It Yourself) step, where you can implement the required solution on your own.
The AWS Console allows you to gain hands-on practice by building the required solution for each challenge lab.
Once you complete the lab, the system validates your solution and rewards you so you can move forward with your progress.
Step 6. Be patient
The island and its challenges might look overwhelming at the beginning, especially if you’re just starting with AWS, but the experience is absolutely worth it. Be patient and keep solving the challenges. But...
... With a bit of focus, you could complete them all in two, three, or four days:
Step 7. Enjoy the reward!
Last step: Congratulations!
Claim your badge and keep doing great things on AWS!
Conclusion
I like this proposal very much from AWS Training and Certification to have the opportunity to learn and get real value through games and challenges that help you solve problems in the AWS Console. Using gamification to achieve recertification is an extra motivation to try this path, full of hands-on challenges that help you gain more confidence using AWS services and give you better preparation for your future as a professional.
This article was originally published on the AWS Builder Community:
https://builder.aws.com/content/2pufWHD49cWQQ9r9EmhCydk8x0Z/gamified-recertification-my-experience-with-aws-cloud-quest
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