In his year-end note, NBC News president Steve Capus called NBC's education initiatives "game changers" for the news division. The initiatives include iCue, NBC Archives On-Demand, Channel One, and the NYFA Digital Journalism Course. NBC has also partnered with HotChalk to bring politics into the classroom during this election year.

And during a time when NBC News & MSNBC have laid off or have given buyouts to up to 20 employees, an insider tells us the company has hired up to 50 people for the education initiatives.

Read more about the HotChalk partnership in an interview with Nicola Soares, VP of NBC News educational initiatives.