Институциональные условия функционирования онлайн образования в России

This article attempts to evaluate the prospects of online education technology implementation in Russian universities based on their compliance with the main institutional requirements necessary for effective work of online education. The authors formulate the main institutional requirements, among which the optimal situation on the educational market takes the main place: the demand for specialists trained through online learning and trust in their qualifications. In addition, there are requirements for online courses themselves, which, according to the authors, should not be just digitized lectures and the opportunity to communicate with teachers on the Internet, but a complete rethinking of the presentation of educational materials in a form convenient for consumers of educational services. It is argued that the very idea of online education at the beginning of its existence contradicts the legislator's intention to reduce the cost of maintaining universities, as the development of a full-fledged online platform is a long-term investment with a long payback period. The authors also put forward certain requirements to the staff of universities, suggesting by analogy with Western universities to introduce the concept of «tutors» - consultants to students in online education. The authors believe that the creation of a full-fledged online platform is impossible within individual universities and therefore it is necessary to create a so-called «mega-university», which in the future should become a single platform for online education, by analogy with foreign practices.