It is noted that in modern conditions the issue of online education development in Ukraine has become especially acute, in particular, in the development of a long-term program to improve secondary and higher online education and ensure its new level of quality. The article is devoted to determining the need for distance and online education, the differences between them, the necessary forms of communication, the advantages and disadvantages of these forms of education, as well as prospects for distance and online education in Ukraine. It has been identified that online and distance education is viable and effective teaching strategies, but each has its own clear advantages and disadvantages for both teachers and students. The article proves that there are the following differences between these types of education: the location of the teacher and students; interaction between teacher and students; intention of teaching strategy. The authors list the advantages of distance education: distance education can continue without interruption, even in cases such as emergencies or the COVID-19 pandemic; distance education provides more flexibility for students to work at their own pace and review assignments as needed. The article summarizes the main forms of online communication between students and teachers - video conferencing, forum, chat, blog, etc. In addition, the most common web resources for distance education: Moodle, Google Classroom, Zoom and others. The problems that arise in the implementation of distance education have been identified: it is impossible to use distance education if students do not have access to devices or the Internet at home; it is difficult to keep a real contribution of the student to the work; distance education can make falsification even easier than online education; distance education can lead to even more screen time for students. It was concluded that the use of the Internet in teaching is necessary both for teachers who seek to offer their students different ways of learning, and for the students themselves. It has been proven that distance education is most useful for those students who have constant access to technology at home and work responsibly and independently, and it has a clear advantage in the event of an unexpected restriction of classes in the free economic zone.