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Abstract: We conducted a research on a sample of students, lecturers and staff members of the Ural Federal University to revealed the biased attitude of the teaching community of different status and age towards the promotion of e-learning in higher education. The dialectic of this process lies both in the sociocultural and pedagogical or rather didactical problematic fields. The sample was divided into younger people who are technologically savvy and have experience of training in the Internet and via other electronic formats, and those who are more conservative and rely on habit, experience and tangible result, which plays a certain role in their lives. There are some noteworthy factors that attract people to the on-line education, whether they use this format or not. Accessibility or opportunity to study outside the university is likable for everyone even for the skeptics who believe that the online format worsen the quality of education. Respondents who have a positive experience in online education see the benefit of distance learning in its convenience associated with the ability to plan time and its flexibility to learn in comfort. But the main disadvantage of distance learning for most respondents is the lack of the common way of communication with the teacher. From their point of view, it is the charisma and the manner of communication of a lecturer or a mentor what can greatly influence the learning efficiency. Based on the results of the study the article analyzes the socio-cultural conditions for the development of online education. Moreover, it discusses limitations and risks of this education format in the frameworks of the adaptive learning and the principle of individual educational approach.