Knoxville, TN — June 2025: NexPort Solutions, a division of Darwin Global, has completed the deployment of the NexPort Learning Platform for the Training and Education Center University (TEC-U), part of the Air National Guard’s I.G. Brown Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base.
TEC-U is the Air National Guard’s central hub for distance learning and professional education. It develops and delivers training courses that help Guardsmen and civilian Air Force personnel grow into effective leaders and professionals. The new NexPort system replaces TEC-U’s legacy learning platform and introduces features that allow staff to more easily manage courses, track student progress, and expand into new delivery methods. The project followed a competitive contract award and is the first major upgrade to TEC-U’s digital learning environment in several years.
On-Site Transition and Training
In June, NexPort staff traveled to Knoxville to work directly with the TEC-U team on campus. Over the course of three days, NexPort engineers and trainers configured the new platform, migrated legacy courseware, and provided administrator training. Superintendent Larry McCoy and Instructional Systems Specialist Dustin Russell coordinated TEC-U’s participation.
The training sessions went beyond basic orientation. Staff learned how to:
Create new courses and update existing ones through NexPort’s administrator interface.
Enable student self-registration, reducing manual account setup.
Generate detailed reports on student performance, course completions, and time-on-task metrics.
Design and update certificate templates directly within NexPort, giving TEC-U control over the look and content of its credentials.
By the end of the visit, TEC-U personnel were able to manage their own catalog and oversee the entire learning process without needing to contact NexPort for routine changes. This autonomy was a key goal of the transition.
Leadership Certificate Program
The Leadership Certificate Program (LCP) is TEC-U’s flagship online professional development course. It is designed to bridge the gap between Airman Leadership School and the Noncommissioned Officer Academy by providing practical lessons in communication, decision-making, and team leadership.
With NexPort’s Training Plan feature, the program now unfolds in a structured sequence of modules. Each student must progress through required lessons in order, ensuring a consistent learning path. The program concludes with a Capstone project where participants complete written assignments. These assignments are submitted and graded inside NexPort, giving administrators the ability to evaluate how well students can apply leadership principles to real-world challenges.
The adoption of Training Plans and assignment tracking represents a significant shift for TEC-U. Previously, staff relied on manual methods to monitor completion and manage prerequisites. Now, the entire process is automated, making it easier to scale the program to larger groups of students.
Expanded Online Learning
Beyond the Leadership Certificate Program, NexPort hosts a wide range of short courses that build professional and personal skills. These include:
Leadership and Professional Skills: Fundamentals of Leadership, Effective Communication, Conflict Resolution, Feedback, Coaching, Change Management, Team Culture, Dichotomy of Leadership, and Time Management.
Special Topics: Building and Maintaining Confidence, Powell’s Principles, War and Tactics, Personal/Professional Development, Continuous Development, Outward Mindset, Bridging the Generational Gap, and Dealing with Toxic People.
Each course issues a certificate of completion, providing tangible recognition of a learner’s progress. By consolidating these programs on NexPort, TEC-U ensures students can register, complete, and track their training in a single environment.
Looking Ahead
While much of TEC-U’s current catalog is self-paced, the organization is preparing to expand into blended learning, which combines online modules with instructor-led sessions. NexPort’s tools make it possible to schedule, track, and grade these sessions alongside asynchronous coursework.
TEC-U is also exploring the use of video coaching features, which would allow learners to record presentations or practical exercises and receive structured feedback from instructors. Similarly, discussion assignments are under review as a way to increase student interaction, even when participants are geographically dispersed.
These capabilities will give TEC-U more options to deliver training that reflects how Guardsmen actually learn — through a mix of independent study, instructor guidance, and peer interaction.
Conclusion
The deployment of NexPort represents more than a technology upgrade. It provides TEC-U with the flexibility and control needed to manage its own learning environment and to adapt quickly as training requirements change. By giving staff the tools to create, deliver, and evaluate courses independently, TEC-U can focus on its mission: preparing the next generation of Air National Guard leaders. With new features already in use and more on the horizon, the program is set to play a central role in the Guard’s professional education efforts for years to come.
NexPort Solutions Can Help
Our team has decades of experience helping organizations deliver training online. The NexPort Learning Management Platform is trusted by Fortune 500 companies and educational institutions, supporting millions of enrollments. As a high-availability, cloud-based system, NexPort enables partners to host one or many campuses with ease.
From student management to instructor tools and detailed progress insights via NexPort Analytics, our platform empowers effective online education delivery. Contact us today to learn how we can support your training and education goals.