This article is devoted to the peculiarities of the formation and functioning of virtual universities, emerging in recent years in different countries of the world. The main approaches to their creation and financing are described. It is noted that along with public virtual universities, private universities are developing, including corporate virtual universities. The main models of virtual universities are classified, including the consortium model, the traditional model of the university with electronic education for individual educational programs, the model of educational organizations of distance learning and the actual virtual university model. Successful models of functioning of virtual universities in Great Britain, USA, Italy, South Korea, Russia and other countries are described. In the widespread model of the consortium, educational organizations jointly develop online courses, provide access to the repository of courses for students of these universities, and also have the opportunity to transfer courses to students of organizations that are members of the consortium. The main factors influencing the development of virtual universities are singled out. Along with successful examples of the implementation of the model of a consortium of educational organizations, negative examples of the functioning of such associations of higher education institutions are presented in the article. In conclusion, the main directions of the development of virtual universities are determined.

Article depicts typical problems that students encounter when mastering programming. For each problem, a number of existing specialized software environments offering a solution is displayed. Analyses of programming environments elements and the selection of those who are directly involved in solving problems are conducted. In the end, aggregation of the best solution is carried out and an assumption about the possibility of combining the best elements is made. Initially, the school computer science course was focused on the formation of computer programming and computer skills. Now the main part of the course is devoted to the study of applied software and information technologies. At the same time, classical programming languages developed in the last century are used for learning more. The first successful attempt to create an alternative programming language that could act as an educational tool is the Logo language. A similar display method can be found in many programming environments, where the user does not need to have programming skills, but be able to make a workable algorithm. This allows you not to be distracted by programming language, but to design a program from blocks. Each of the visual programming environments mentioned in the article is not without a number of drawbacks. However, even with this state of affairs, there is a tendency to expand the use of visual programming languages in teaching.

The article presents methodical aspects of distance education. Due attention is paid to historical retrospect in the field under investigation. The possibilities of distance learning are presented in the work. The interpretation of the definition of “Distance Education” is presented and a comprehensive presentation of its essence and content is given. The article demonstrates the basic technologies of distance education. The paper considers the main problems that stand in the way of effective learning for foreign students. The study carried out a comparative analysis of opportunities and conditions for traditional and distance learning for an international student. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the use of distance education is a serious tool for achieving high quality of education by foreign students.

The article considers the influence of the development of technical means of teaching on the effectiveness of educational and methodical resources. Modern opportunities of information and communication technologies allow creating electronic educational resources that represent educational information that automates the learning process, provide information assistance, if necessary, collect and process statistical information on the degree of development of the content of the school material by schoolchildren, set an individual trajectory of learning, and so on. The main principle of data organization is the division of the training course into separate sections on the thematic elements and components of the learning process. General regularities include laws that encompass the entire didactic system, and in specific (particular) cases, those whose actions extend to a separate component (aspect) of the system. From the standpoint of the existence of three types of electronic training modules in the aggregate content of the electronic learning resource - information, control and module of practical classes - the principles of the formation of the electronic learning resource, in our opinion, should regulate all these components. Each of the certain principles is considered in the groups: scientific orientation, methodological orientation, systemic nature, accounting of interdisciplinary connections, fundamentalization, systematic and dosage sequence, rational use of study time, accessibility, minimization, operationalization of goals, unified identification diagnosis.

The article describes specific questions student learning inverse problems of mathematical physics. When teaching inverse problems of mathematical physics to the understanding of the students brought the information that the inverse problems of mathematical physics with a philosophical point of view are the problems of determining the unknown causes of known consequences, and the search for their solutions have great scientific and educational potential. The reasons are specified in the form of unknown coefficients, right side, initial conditions of the mathematical model of inverse problems, and as a consequence are functionals of the solution of this mathematical model. In the process of learning the inverse problems of mathematical physics focuses on the philosophical aspects of the phenomenon of information and identify cause-effect relations. It is emphasized that in the process of logical analysis applied and humanitarian character, students realize that information is always related to the fundamental philosophical questions that the analysis applied and the humanitarian aspects of the obtained results the inverse problem of mathematical physics allows students to make appropriate inferences about the studied process and to, ultimately, new information, to study its properties and understand its value. Philosophical understanding of the notion of information opens up to students a new methodological opportunities to comprehend the world and helps us to reinterpret existing science and philosophy of the theory related to the disclosure of the interrelationship of all phenomena of reality.

The article is devoted to the issues of statistical analysis of results of computer-based testing for evaluation of educational achievements of students. The issues are relevant due to the fact that computerbased testing in Russian universities has become an important method for evaluation of educational achievements of students and quality of modern educational process. Usage of modern methods and programs for statistical analysis of results of computer-based testing and assessment of quality of developed tests is an actual problem for every university teacher. The article shows how the authors solve this problem using their own program “StatInfo”. For several years the program has been successfully applied in a credit system of education at such technological stages as loading computerbased testing protocols into a database, formation of queries, generation of reports, lists, and matrices of answers for statistical analysis of quality of test items. Methodology, experience and some results of its usage by university teachers are described in the article. Related topics of a test development, models, algorithms, technologies, and software for large scale computer-based testing has been discussed by the authors in their previous publications which are presented in the reference list.

The article presents the genesis of network communities, the transformation of the interaction of participants in the evolution of this form of communication. The main characteristics and stages inherent in changing the formats of network interaction are described. The concept of networked communities is multifaceted and includes various processes of socialization: from the behaviour of people in interest groups to the formation of large international online communities. The evolution of such communities includes the transition from guest books and forums to more complex systems with many additional tools for networking. The introduction of modern technologies in all spheres of life leads to the formation of a qualitatively new distinctive model of education. In such conditions, the roles of participants in the educational process are changing, more attention is paid to self-education and development at the expense of the internal need for learning, the organizational and methodological component of the educational process is being reconstructed, and new conditions are created for the development of distance learning technologies. All this allows us to develop a more competitive system of interaction, make management processes transparent and create conditions for the independent development of each participant in the network space. Online network communities are a powerful tool that must be used in the education system in various interpretations, and as an additional resource that allows the principle of “lifelong learning” to be introduced into the teacher’s self-education system.

The article introduces the basic definitions and concepts of blockchain technology are summarized, collected and refracted to educational organizations. Offers concrete options and directions for expanding the use of blockchain technology for interacting with external contractors and partners. Outlines the possibilities of bringing blockchain technology to improve the competitiveness of educational organizations through improved level of security, increasing investment attractiveness and increase marketing power. The following list of possible areas to use blockchain technology for internal processes of educational institutions, whose security can be significantly improved. Described the positive aspects of using corporate blockchain in an educational institution.

Robotics within the subject “Technology” is included in the curriculum of Russian schools. This fact transforms robotics from the subject of additional education into a full-fledged academic subject of the school curriculum. The introduction of robotics into the curriculum of Russian schools requires significant changes in the system of training teachers who will teach students this discipline. Training of teachers for the training of students in robotics is carried out, both in the framework of programs for the preparation of masters in pedagogical universities, and within the framework of various refresher courses. Different countries carry out such training in different ways. In some countries, the training of teachers of robotics is financed by the state, in others by private initiatives. The mission of most foreign educational organizations is to use the motivational effects of robotics to activate schoolchildren and involve them in STEM-education. Many manufacturing companies not only sell robotic equipment, but also prepare methodological and training materials for the implementation of STEM-education technology, as well as create electronic educational resources, training programs, online lessons, evaluation materials and much more. Teaching teachers and schoolchildren, while it is based on the equipment that produces such companies.