The Main Directions of Open and Distance Education Development in the Universities of Western Europe (The end of the 20th-the beginning of the 21st century)

The article is devoted to the main branches of open and distance education development in the system of higher education in the countries of Western Europe at the end of the 20th - the beginning of the 21st century. The review of structural and contextual peculiarities is given, and also the main principles of the process of open and distance education taking the biggest universities of Great Britain, France, and Germany as an example. The main principle of open and distance education has been analyzed. Teaching techniques of open and distance education have been presented. Special attention has been given to virtual educational environment which helped the universities of Western Europe to form net communication groups where students and tutors are given access towards a wide range of possibilities. The experience of using e-education while organizing open and distance education has been described. National programs of distance post-graduate education have been reviewed; the most demanded among them are those on commerce, law, finance, business management, medicine.