Analysis of the Demand for Distance Education at Eastern and Central European Higher Education Institutions

Abstract Distance education as one of the new and perspective forms of completing higher education increases in popularity around the world. At the same time, the development of this model of education generates new problems: organization of the study process and information security. Distance learning allows solving a problem of accessibility of higher education in case of social issues, working hours, etc. Therefore, distance education is of major importance in increasing the learning efficiency. The Latvian model of distance education is passing the stage of formation and approbation in the market of educational services. However, the creation of system of distance education should not be the final step for higher education institutions as such; furthermore, this process would not be developed without students. Therefore, the objective of the present research is to find out the opinion of the students on the expediency of distance education. More than 850 students from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia and Belarus have participated in the research. Results of the research have revealed that the traditional form of education based on communication between the lecturer and the student is more demanded among the students. At present, distance learning, unfortunately, cannot be characterised by stable demand. In order to increase the demand for such model of education, public presentations and discussions should be made, and media support is also necessary.