AWS

This comprehensive boot camp prepares higher education faculty, staff, and high school educators to earn the AWS Certified AI Practitioner certification for free. Blending live virtual instruction with hands-on practice and self-work, the program covers core artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and generative AI technologies with a focus on real-world implementation, prompt engineering, RAG applications, and agentic workflows.

Program Commitment & Format

• Live Virtual Interactive Sessions: 12 Hours (4 sessions × 2.5 hours + 1 session × 2 hours)
• Self-Paced Learning & Study: ~22 Hours
• Total Estimated Commitment: ~34 Hours

What’s Included:

• Self-Paced Exam Prep Plan: Step-by-step guidance via the AWS Certified AI Practitioner Exam Prep Plan on AWS Skill Builder (~8–15 hours).
• Hands-On AWS Labs: Experience live exercises using Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker JumpStart, and the AWS Academy Learner Lab (at no additional cost).
• Reference & Review Materials: Access to official presentation decks, lecture recordings, and the AWS Certified AI Practitioner Official Study Guide.
• Onboarding Support: Pre-session setup guides and videos to assist with platform registration before Day 1.
• AWS Skill Builder Premium (Eligible Educators): AWS Academy educators can activate a complimentary 12-month AWS Skill Builder Premium subscription through their AWS Academy Canvas LMS.

Target Audience & Prerequisites

Who Should Apply:

• Community college faculty and staff across all disciplines (technical and non-technical).
• High school educators interested in cloud-based AI technology.

Prerequisites:

• Basic understanding of cloud computing and machine learning concepts.
• General IT familiarity is beneficial.
• No prior AWS or deep AI experience is required.

Curriculum Schedule

Sessions 1 through 4 consist of 2 hours of core concept instruction followed by 30 minutes of live, hands-on demonstrations. Session 5 is a fully hands-on interactive lab.

Session 1: Fundamentals of AI and Machine Learning

Friday, October 2, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

• Concepts (2 hrs): AI/ML fundamentals, types of learning, practical use cases, ML lifecycle, AWS AI/ML services overview, and MLOps basics.
• Hands-On (30 min): Exploring AWS AI Services (Amazon SageMaker JumpStart and Amazon Comprehend).

Session 2: Fundamentals of Generative AI

Friday, October 9, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

• Concepts (2 hrs): Core GenAI concepts (tokens, embeddings, LLMs, foundation models), enterprise capabilities and limitations, practical business applications, and AWS GenAI infrastructure.
• Hands-On (30 min): Prompt Engineering in the Amazon Bedrock Playground.

Session 3: Applications of Foundation Models

Friday, October 16, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

• Concepts (2 hrs): Foundation model design considerations, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures, vector databases, prompt engineering best practices, fine-tuning, and model evaluation.
• Hands-On (30 min): Building a RAG application with Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases.

Session 4: Security, Compliance, Governance, and Responsible AI

Friday, October 23, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

• Concepts (2 hrs): Responsible AI development frameworks, bias detection, fairness, data governance, compliance regulations, and AWS security services.
• Hands-On (30 min): Implementing Amazon Bedrock Guardrails.

Session 5: Agentic AI in Practice – Building with Kiro on AWS

Friday, October 30, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

• Fully Hands-On (2 hrs): Introduction to Agentic AI concepts followed by a guided build using Kiro (AWS's agentic IDE) within the AWS Academy Learner Lab to create and deploy an AI-powered cloud application.
• Key Skills: Rapid prototyping ("vibe coding") and spec-driven development.

Completion Requirements & Certification Vouchers

Complimentary AWS Certified AI Practitioner examination vouchers will be awarded to eligible participants who meet the completion criteria:

1. Attendance: Participants must attend at least 4 out of the 5 live sessions.
2. Recording Policy: Live interaction is essential. Reviewing session recordings is intended to help catch up on material or make up for a single missed session only, and does not replace the overall live attendance requirement.

With 97% of core workforce skills projected to change by 2030, educators are on the front lines of the AI transition. Join the NAAIC and AWS for a faculty-focused deep dive into the AWS Builder Center.

This session is designed specifically for instructors looking to enhance their syllabi with industry-aligned, hands-on AI and cloud resources, all available at no cost to your institution or your students.

What You Will Learn

• Curating Your Syllabus: How to navigate over 330 self-paced training courses covering Generative AI, Machine Learning, and Cloud Services to find the right fit for your classroom.
• Professional Development: Discover how to use the platform to stay current with AI tools, earn badges, and join "Spaces" specialized community groups where you can collaborate with fellow educators and AWS experts.
• Shaping the Tools: Learn how the Builder Center gives you a seat at the table to publish articles and provide direct feedback to AWS product teams, ensuring classroom perspectives influence future tools.
• Student Portfolio Building: A look at how you can guide students to use the AWS Toolbox and workshops (Level 100-400) to create public profiles that serve as tangible proof of their skills for employers.

This comprehensive training program prepares community faculty members for the AWS Certified AI Practitioner certification by covering essential AI/ML concepts and AWS implementation. The curriculum, divided into 4 sessions of 2 hours each, encompasses fundamental artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generative AI technologies, with emphasis on practical applications, use case identification, and responsible AI implementation. Participants will learn to evaluate AI solutions and integrate cloud-based AI services into educational contexts. AWS AI Practitioner certification exam vouchers will be available to all educators who successfully complete all training sessions.

‍Previous knowledge required

Basic understanding of cloud computing and Machine Learning concepts. Familiarity with general IT concepts is beneficial, though no prior AWS or AI experience is required.

‍Intended audience

Faculty members from all disciplines interested in AI and cloud computing, particularly those looking to incorporate AWS cloud computing and AI services into their teaching.

‍Number of training sessions: 4 sessions, 2 hours per session

Dates

• Session 1: October 24, 2025, 12 to 2 PM EST, online  

• Session 2: October 31, 2025, 12 to 2 PM EST, online  

• Session 3: November 7, 2025, 12 to 2 PM EST, online  

• Session 4: November 14, 2025, 12 to 2 PM EST, online  

Application

Approved applicants will receive a notification at least 3 weeks before the first training session.

The National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC) partnered with AWS and CodeSignal to host a webinar introducing the AWS Generative AI Learning Pathway, a free program available to educators and students for the 2025–2026 academic year. The pathway is designed to help learners at all skill levels build practical generative AI expertise through guided courses and applied learning experiences.

The program features:

• 24/7 AI-powered learning support in multiple languages

• Hands-on exercises with real-world applications

• No prerequisites required

• Certificate of completion and shareable digital badge

• Access to AWS GenAI tools and services

• Fall 2025 Applied Learning Event Series

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The three-part curriculum includes:

1. Prompt Engineering for Everyone (all skill levels)

2. Enterprise Machine Learning with Amazon SageMaker (for technical students and staff)

3. Building Enterprise GenAI Applications (for technical students and staff)

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The session will highlight the growing demand for AI skills, noting 92% of educators already emphasize the importance of AI literacy intheir programming, with GenAI job postings having increased by 1,848% since2022 and 1 million new AI jobs projected by 2027.

The National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC) and AWS Academy hosted an information session on how community colleges can give students free access to AWS Skill Builder for one year. This global AWS initiative is available to students at AWS Academy member institutions and provides:

• Hundreds of digital courses across cloud, cybersecurity, data, and software roles

• AWS certification exam preparation

• Free vouchers for AWS certification exams

The session explains the AWS Skill Builder platform, how to integrate it into your courses, and how students can access and benefit from these resources at no cost.

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Recording:

The National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC) partnered with AWS and CodeSignal to host a webinar introducing the AWS Generative AI Learning Pathway, a free program available to educators and students for the 2025–2026 academic year. The pathway is designed to help learners at all skill levels build practical generative AI expertise through guided courses and applied learning experiences.

The program features:

• 24/7 AI-powered learning support in multiple languages

• Hands-on exercises with real-world applications

• No prerequisites required

• Certificate of completion and shareable digital badge

• Access to AWS GenAI tools and services

• Fall 2025 Applied Learning Event Series

‍

The three-part curriculum includes:

1. Prompt Engineering for Everyone (all skill levels)

2. Enterprise Machine Learning with Amazon SageMaker (for technical students and staff)

3. Building Enterprise GenAI Applications (for technical students and staff)

‍

The session also highlighted the growing demand for AI skills, noting a 1,848% increase in GenAI job postings since 2022 and projections of 1 million new AI jobs by 2027.

‍

Recorded Video

The National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC) partnered with AWS Academy to host an information session on the AWS AI Practitioner Faculty Training program. Designed for community college faculty, this free professional development opportunity equips educators with the knowledge and tools to teach the AWS AI Practitioner certification and prepare students for AI-related careers.

The session covered:

Program details, including 6 hours of live instruction and 18 hours of self-paced learning

Access to AWS Skill Builder’s Standard Exam Prep Plan

A voucher for the AWS AI Practitioner certification exam upon program completion

How the training covers AI/ML fundamentals, AWS Skill Builder tools, and certification preparation

Attendees were able to ask questions directly to AWS experts and learn how the program could be integrated into their teaching to deliver in-demand skills to students.

Recording