<h2>Russian online degree: history and present</h2>

In accordance with the specialists’ opinion the history of Russian distant degree could be separated in two different stages. The first one is the appearance and development of one of the biggest distant degree systems over the world (20th – beginning of 90th). The second stage is forming of the up-to-date distant degree system based on using of the new informational and communicational technologies including online degree methods.
6 May, 2005 has appeared the Order of the Ministry for Education and Science of Russian Federation with the formal official definition what is the distant degree. It runs that “… distant degree technologies are the education technologies using the informational and telecommunicational technologies with a mediate interaction of teaching and studying persons…”
The development of the distant degree in 90th began based on the initiative of some governmental and non-governmental universities. But now it is considered as an important part of some programs and projects created by the government and financed by governmental structures. Among them is, for example, the Program for development of the distant degree in secondary professional education system.
In May 2005 in Moscow also took place the Second conference for the online degree technologies called “eLearnExpo” (Moscow World Trade Center). There were introduced the newest online technologies and programs created for the distant synchronous or asynchronous interaction of teachers and students.
Now it is impossible to realize the distant education without online degree technologies. They are among the most important and grate consequences of the informational revolution took place at the end of the 20th century. Now everyone can get a lot of information very easy and where he is. All of the Russian distant degree schools and universities use the online degree technologies, aim at their development and at growing of their part in the whole complex of the distant degree system.