S. G. GALSTYAN, Colonel of Medical Service (Ret.), Doctor of Medicine, Professor, Director, Center for Military Medical Research, YSMU;

G. A. AVETISYAN, PhD in Medicine, Associate Professor, Vice-Rector for Postgraduate and Continuing Education, YSMU;

S. H. ADAMYAN, PhD in Medicine, Senior Lecturer, Chair of Physiology, YSMU;

L. R. AVETISYAN, Doctor of Medicine, Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs, YSMU

SUMMARY

In the late 1900s and early 2000s, the number of students essentially rose globally. In order to meet the demand for higher education a great number of education institutions embarked on extensively integrating programs offering distance education with modern digital technologies in their curricula. Yet, in the 1990s universities and colleges kicked off efforts in transferring to the next stage of the distance education development, i.e., to the online course format.

Research and analysis in the field of distance education have made
it possible to identify and systematize a number of advantages and disadvantages of distance education regarding full-time, evening, correspondence and self-education. Notably, in the English- and Russian-language professional literature the following types of distance learning are highlighted: synchronous, asynchronous and blended (hybrid).

The article also discusses the aftermaths of the study that authors have conducted on the experience of introducing distance education into the educational process at the Yerevan State Medical University during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Distance learning as a systematized form of education, in which the teacher and student are separated geographically (and sometimes in time), and their communication occurs mainly through the use of information, technological and telecommunication means, must be obligatorily regulated by statutes and legal documents. This will allow institutionalizing the distance education, and, accordingly, increasing its social significance.