If you are a self-paced learner you can completely skip the Introduction section and simply do all the labs Starting in section 2
You do need at least an AWS account and a GitLab account on a GitLab instance somewhere to get started.
While doing the labs any instructor-led notes are for you because you are your own instructor ;)
If you have a single monitor setup, you may benefit from printing the labs to avoid extreme context switching. Printable versions for labs are here: Printable Labs
The following information may be of interest before you get started: