The paper substantiates that the problem of implementation of modern forms and methods of teaching, including distance learning, remains insufficiently studied at the moment, taking into account the impact of factors of computerization and digitalization of socio-economic relations and the characteristics of national experience. The article defines the essence of personnel development, considers the forms and methods of personnel training, classified by stages, roles of the teacher, the nature of cognitive activity, types, place, and degree of innovation. The purpose of the study is, on the basis of a comparative analysis and systematization of forms and methods of teaching, determining the essence and content of distance learning, to identify the advantages and limitations in the implementation of methods of remote learning in the context of digitalization. The stages of distance learning development, the essence of distance learning as a set of specific forms, means, methods through which the content of training is carried out, a set of cognitive procedures that determine the operational part and structure of students’ activities, opportunities, advantages and limitations, forms of distance learning-chats, online classes, internet conferences and webinars, telepresence.